The Witch, the Muggle and the Squib
by ScarletNox155
Summary: Lily L. Potter is exciting for sharing her first year at Hogwarts with her cousins: Hugo Weasley and Matilda Dursley. However, Matilda misses terribly her muggle twin, Moira, and promises her to send an owl every day to her prestigious school in Ireland. But Moira is not the only child with magic family: Druella Malfoy, the biggest and dearest Draco secret, is studying there too!
1. A Brave New World

Hello!

I introduce you to my very first English fanfic. This is from Harry Potter fandom, a magic place in fandom world I have never been able to abandon, even now that I'm getting older. It was almost twenty years ago when I read Harry Potter for the first time and now I'm doing it again, from the Philosopher Stone, but in English this time. Listening to the audiobooks make me remember everything one day I lived with Harry, Ron, and Hermione, and makes me want to write about Hogwarts again.

I also want to read a prompt I once discover on Tumblr about Dudley's daughters. I do not know who was the genius who thought about that, but s/he made the best epilogue ever. So good I decide it's canon. So canon I was dying realizing that nobody would write about it and I could not read it. So I take that prompt, combining with some of my crazy ideas, and voila: write this fanfic.

I do not know how long it takes me to write and complete. They are going to be short since Iñm still studying English so I do not want to deal with complex English syntax.

I also make a disclaimer for J. and the awesome person who loves Petunia enough to give a closure for her story with Lily, the Potters, and Hogwarts. Thank you very much for the ideas and the inspiration.

And thank you to you, dear reader, and welcome back to Hogwarts!

* * *

 **A New Brave World**

"I can't believe these people never learn!" Harry grumbled from the back of the room.

"What I can't believe is that you're still reading the Daily Prophet" Ginny Potter, his wife, answered while she was searching for balls in the Quidditch trunk.

"I just wanted to see if they had written something about the Muggle Studies Conference. Hermione spent lots of nights preparing it, and I feel bad we couldn't go" Harry explained.

"I know. It was a pity it was the same day as the final Quidditch match" Ginny smiled sadly "But at least we won!"

"It reminded me of the World Quidditch Championship we went to when we were at Hogwarts. Although it was far more peaceful than that one" Harry said.

"Indeed. Oh, finally!" Ginny exclaimed as she took a little toyish Golden Snitch.

She turned back and looked at her husband. Harry's face looked exhausted as he had spent the whole day cleaning the house without magic. Ginny did not understand why he kept doing it that way, but whenever she asked, Harry shrugged his shoulders and replied that it made him stop thinking. The first times she almost answered that flying was much better for that, but when the Potter's family grew to five members, both realized that playing Quidditch wasn't going to keep the house clean. Of course they didn't even think about the possibility of getting a house-elf, not only because Hermione would kill them, but because Harry never forgot the hard life his friend Dobby had once. He got so sad when the memory of Dobby came up that Ginny was still surprised that her second child's name was not Dobby. On the other hand she was outraged at the fact that her Albus shared the title with the despicable and twisted potions teacher she got at school, but she preferred not to argue, until the third kid was born and she told Harry that now she was going to choose the names.

"I'm going to practice some Quidditch moves with James and Albus. Do you want to come?" Ginny invited him.

"Sure" Harry agreed, and he got up from the armchair and walked with Ginny towards the garden "Where is Lily, by the way?"

"Oh, she's upstairs," Ginny said "she's anxious about her letter of Hogwarts since it should arrive soon."

Harry, Ginny and their sons went outside and greeted the sunny day. The Scottish sky was blue and cloudless. A warm breeze caressed the trees and made them rustle their leaves as if they were saying goodbye. It was the last day of a summer and this year was the first September that Harry and Ginny were going to come back from work to find their house empty. He might find some time to help his friends learn how to ride a bike since Hermione was never allowed to use it and Ron was amazed just by the idea. He might travel with Ginny and see her Quidditch matches when she plays outside, or teach Mr. Weasley how to use the Underground without raising suspicions from Muggles.

"Or you might help Hermione design the new program to make Muggle world understandable and close" Harry reminded himself.

Almost a decade after the Second Voldemort War some people from the Ministry of Magic had thought a plan to avoid the pureblood-mudblood conflict arising again among witches and wizards. They had begun with some conferences about the importance of knowing muggles' traditions and the history both muggles and wizards shared. Hermione was also entrusted to design, with Minerva McGonagall, no longer a Professor but the Headmaster of Hogwarts, a way to transform Muggle Studies into a practical subject where students might leave Hogwarts for a week and survive in the muggle world with the only help of their knowledge.

"We were thinking of trying first with some students' parents." Hermione explained Harry and Ron one day when the three of them went to The Three Broomsticks "Volunteers will test the experience and then it is going to grow up bit by bit.

"I'd love to see Malfoy and the rest of his snob housemates trying to get a muggle driving license" Ron affirmed.

"As you did, you mean?" Hermione asked him, and Ron's face got scarlet red.

"I wasn't bad at all" Ron defended himself "Oh, well, it could be worse".

"Worse than the time we went to the Isle of Man?" Hermione asked him with a smile.

"That road was crowded. Full of sheeps!" Ron moaned "What was I supposed to do with them?

"Well, I had to admit that seeing Malfoy dealing with a phone or the Underground has to be funny," Harry said to defend Ron.

Hermione couldn't help but smile with a very suspicious expression. Ron and Harry looked amused for a moment and asked her for more information.

"I can't tell you anything," Hermione apologized "at least not now. But I promise I'll share all the details with you when the paperwork is done, signed and approved. Deal?

Harry and Ron nodded and promised to help her with anything she needed. Harry decided to prove himself as a teacher with Ron and Arthur to evaluate how difficult it could be for a wizard to learn some basic skills of the muggle world.

"Dad! Dad! Look at that!" a voice brought Harry back to his garden

Harry raised his head and looked for the voice's source. A little redhair head was running into him.

"What's going on, honey?" Harry asked his youngest kid.

"Look at that, dad!" Lily pointed at the sky.

A big brown owl was heading to them. The closer it came, the bigger its silhouette got, but only Harry and Lily seemed to see it. The rest of the Potter family was focused on the game. Harry looked up and saw James throwing a Quaffle at his brother. However, the ball hit the owl, that got very mad and forgot, for a moment, its mission. It changed the course of its flying, began chasing James Potter and bit his back. After the surprise Ginny caught the owl and tried to calm it down. Only when it was fed and happy to return, the bird left the letter.

"Was it from Hogwarts?" James asked when the owl had already left.

"Yeah," Albus answered reading the letter over his sister's shoulder "but it is not the admission one."

He took the envelope from the table and turned it around. The mail address was right, but the message said something Harry never expected that it could happen to him.

"Who are the Dursley, dad?" Lily asked Harry in a soft voice.

"They are…" Harry doubted because calling the Dursley a family sounded very generous and inaccurate "some relatives of mine.

"Your…big cousin?" Ginny asked curiously.

Harry nodded and took the letter from Lily's fingers. Minerva McGonagall, who, Harry knew, had also known his uncle and aunt, had written him a message from his cousin. Harry had not contacted Dudley after his seventeenth birthday. He almost forgot about him, but the few moments he wondered what was going on with him, he found himself with no way to contact him.

"It seems like Dudley has two daughters and one of them is going to Hogwarts with you, Lily" Harry said without even believing it. "And he wants us to pick up his daughter and go to Diagon Alley with her."

"Why didn't he go with his own daughter?" Ginny asked, annoyed.

Harry wanted to explain to her how disgusted the Dursleys felt about anything magic related, but he thought twice. It would not be nice if their kids got that first impression from his niece and, even when Harry did not know anything about her, he knew how terrifying it could be entering the magic world without knowing anyone or anything at all.

"Do you mind?" Harry asked Ginny, and she smiled.

"You can meet with her in London, and we'll wait for you in the Leaky Cauldron." Ginny suggested "I think it would be easier if she goes on foot rather than using Floo Network, don't you think?

"Definitely" Harry laughed as he remembered his first Floo trip.

He wanted to add something else, but he was interrupted by three precious owls that entered the house and left three envelopes with Hogwarts' stamp on them.

"Finally!" Lily cheered "I'm going to Hogwarts!".


	2. The Sister's Promise

**Disclaimer:** I spent more time checking and editing this chapter than writing it, but now that I've already finished my CAE exam I hope I have more time. Also, my beta told me that when she finds a moment, she'll check it again and then, I replace this doc with the better one. But, if you see any mistakes, please tell me, and I correct it as soon as possible.

The metro black line was even fuller than how Harry remembered it. He only used the tube twice when he lived with the Dursley, and neither of them was sure whether they wanted to lose each other or not. Harry had met with her niece at Paddington Station at 7 in the morning, and since it was a labor day, the whole city was crowded into the metro cars and going to work.

"Wasn't it a better idea to appear on the platform? " Arthur asked when he realized how problematic was leaving the car and getting inside it at a rush hour.

A very elegant black tie muggle laughed softly and smiled at them. Harry was afraid that Arthur wanted to keep talking with the stranger, but, at that moment, the tub started up again, and they had to grip stronger.

"Come on," Harry said "This is our stop. Arthur?"

Harry turned back and found his father-in-law looking astonished to the other rails where trains came and went as if they were alive.

"Come on" Harry repeated, "This is nothing comparing to where we are going."

Arthur moved close to him and followed Harry. He had a sincere smile permanently drawn on his face. Harry did not visit the Muggle world since got the Hogwarts letter, and it was obvious, even for him, that this world had changed. The very first new thing he found was that people were using small phones to talk. Or at least, that was what he guessed, and he said so to Mr. Weasley because it seemed that muggles were talking to themselves while they were walking on streets.

"How big is this station?" Arthur asked, "And how do you know how to find your niece?"

Harry did not answer. He was trying not to get lost in the big hall filled with shops that welcomed him. A big clock said he was ten minutes earlier and two big panels informed which trains were leaving and arriving. None of them were interesting for Harry, who was searching for her niece in the sea of people that were heading to their destinations. While Mr. Weasley was trying to focus on one thing at the time and failing miserably, Harry thought of what her niece might look like. He regretted he did not ask Dudley for a photo of her, what probably helped him a lot. On the other hand, it was not the time yet so it might be possible that they were waiting in one of the numerous shops the Paddington Station holds. Harry still remembered how much Duddley liked video games, so he decided to try on the one that had a bitten apple as a logo. He made a gesture to Mr. Weasley, and both of them got into it.

The shop was big, and there was also a white light flooding the room. The only pieces of furniture the chamber had were three large tables and a small desk at the bottom. On the charts, different screens reminded Harry to slim televisions. Most of the people who were there, checking how the devices worked, were adults since, Harry thought, most of the British kids were probably sleeping at that time. However, a small family was playing with one of the little screens. Harry did not pay attention to them until he heard they shouting.

"And another victory to Duddley and Matilda! You are not a match for both of us" a little blond girl said.

"We'll see that when you come back this Christmas, darling" a very short woman replied. "Since we are not going to take care of you this year, your father and I will practice a lot."

Harry approached the family trying to not show the surprise on his face. The big D his cousin used to be was almost disappeared. He was not as slim as Harry, but he had been on a diet. His wife's head got to his elbows, and her face was round and covered with curly blond hair. She was the very opposite picture of Aunt Petunia, and Harry wondered how well both of them get to each other.

"Hey, man, " Harry said, and the Dursleys looked at him

Duddley widened his eyes and looked frenetically to his clock.

"It is still early. "Harry explained, "We just got early."

"Oh, ok "Duddley sighed, "I thought for a moment that we lost the train."

Mr. Dudley, Mr. Potter, and Mr. Weasley looked at each other during a short and uncomfortable moment. The last time they happened together was the seventeenth Harry´s birthday when Dudley thanked his cousin for saving his life. Dudley tried to clear his through, but he only got a toss. He looked awkwardly at his wife, and she smiled him back.

"So… mom" the little girl who was playing seconds ago with her mother talked. "Are they the men who are going to take Matilda to that place?

Harry frowned but he did not say a word.

"Is not just a place" her sister replied, "It is a castle, and they teach magic."

She said magic in a very low voice as if it was a secret.

"You know, like that time I managed to recover your computer even without entry into the Principal office."

Harry looked carefully to his niece, and he was surprised by two glimmering green eyes. He probably had the same looked when Hagrid told him about Hogwarts or when his mother received the letter.

"But… Why?" the muggle girl was on the edge of cry and Harry shivered as he remembered what happened between the Evans sisters when Lily got to Hogwarts and Petunia was left behind "Why do you have to go? Why can you come with me? I am going to miss you.

"Oh, Moira, " Matilda said with a dearing smile "You know why I can't go with you. I didn't even pass the exam!"

"But I'm sure if you take it again you'll pass. Don't you agree, mom?" Moira asked her mother with a desperate voice.

Her mother, however, just looked at the clock and pointed out that they were going to be late. Harry and Mr. Weasley understood that this conversation was not the first one and the Dursleys were probably tired of having it and not knowing how to deal with it.

"Don't worry, sis" Matilda smiled "it'll be only four months. On Christmas, we'll show each other everything we learned. You're already gifted with technology so…. I get the magic. Just imagine what can we do on holidays, what can we do to the Piers.

She said that in a very low voice hoping that her parents did not hear them, but the adults did it. Harry wondered if that Piers were the ones Dudley was a friend of once. He remembered him and his cousins chasing him at primary school.

"Matilda!" Mrs. Dursley began to say something but her daughters interrupted her:

"Mom, he's a bully. He's gross with girls."

"He once made weird photos of Hilary and blackmailed her," Moira said.

"He's creepy" Matilda added. "And I don't think it's bad if we scared him, just a little, to show that he shouldn't mess with girls.

Harry saw how Mrs. Dursley wanted to reprehend her kids although she agreed with them. The fact that Harry and Arthur stood there were making her feel nervous, so Harry decided to open his mouth.

"So, you are the one who is going to Hogwarts," Harry said to Matilda, and her face got bright after she heard the name.

"And you are the one who is going to teach me everything about magic, aren't you?" she asked back.

Harry laughed.

"Oh, no, I'm just going to go with you to Diagon Alley, where they sell all school materials. I don't work at Hogwarts" Harry explained.

"So, who are you? "Moira asked approaching him and her sister

Harry looked up to Dudley, and his cousin finally found his voice to talk again.

"He's my cousin. Do you remember the stories Grandma Petunia said about her childhood? Well, her sister got the letter, so did Harry, and so did Matilda."

Harry was amazed on how easy Dudley resumed the whole Evans-Dursley tragic story in just one sentence. He also wanted to know what Aunt Petunia think about everything.

"So, sir "Arthur Weasley talked finally, and Dudley looked at him with the strange look. He did not expect any of Harry's colleagues to call him 'sir.' "Why do you not come with us? I know it can be stressful at the beginning, but it also is fun."

Mrs. Durdsly sighed.

"If only… But the Hedwig Lamarr Kiesel Institute is so strict with all the protocols, and both of us have to attend to Moira's introduction into the place."

"It's a pity we can't go to both places," Dudley said to Harry and then approached to Matilda "But you promise to tell papa everything you saw there, right?"

"Absolutely" Matilda answered and hugged her parents.

"I'll write you an email every day" Moira promised to her.

"And I'll send you an owl every day" Matilda added.

Harry did not say anything. He was positive to the fact that internet still did not work in Hogwarts and he did not want to think about how awkward could be for a muggle to receive an owl. However, the scene was sweeter and nicer than anyone what happened in that family before, so Harry did not want to spoil anything for them. They seemed to be stick to each other, and he hoped that Hogwarts and that Hedwig Institute could not destroy that.

Some minutes later, Harry, Arthur, and Matilda were back at the black line tube heading to Candem Town.

"How do you know it's this muggle neighboorhood the entrance of Diagon Alley?" Mr. Weasley asked with surprise "You only used that way once and it was with Hagrid when you're eleven."

"Hermione told me" Harry explained

"And you don't need to be a wizard to know where the entrance is" Matilda added. Arthur looked at her with a puzzled face "You'll know when you'll see the place."

Harry hid his smile. He liked his niece, and it would be very interesting for the Weasleys and Potters kids to discover the other world some of them were from. The other world that was always there, surviving without magic and even leading it.


	3. Euros, Sickles and Pounds

Disclaimer: This was an incredibly long chapter. Not because it´s many pages but because I spent three weeks writing, checking and editing. I enjoyed it, tho. And I hope you do it as well. If you see any mistakes, please let me know. Have fun!

By the time Harry, Matilda and Mr. Weasley arrived at Camden Town, the tube crew was relieved. They went upstairs to the street and walked some meters until a mixture of food smells welcomed them. Matilda left the pedestrian and walked over the road as if she did not mind to be passed over by a car.

"Hey" Harry called her. "What are you doing?"

"Road is closed at this point" Matilda explained and waited for Harry, and Mr. Weasley joined her.

"I can see why you think this is the entrance of magic world" Mr. Weasley murmured as they were walking.

Harry looked around and found himself checking the differences between Camden Town and Diagon Alley. Both places had full of people wandering around the shops, whose products were shown on the streets and window displays. It also seemed that no shopkeeper cared about what goods their neighbors sold since colors, odors, and shapes were mixing in a curious dance.

"Here," Harry pointed into a big building, which had a circular courtyard at the bottom.

From there, they could see different narrow corridors, and Matilda soon realized that she needed to be close to Harry to not being lost. She tried to remember every turn they made and the shops she saw in the way, but she could not keep the track.

"It's right there" Harry announced and Matilda thought her uncle was getting mad.

Harry pointed at a dead-end street where there was only a bunch of junk and useless and broken furniture. There were not any shops at that point, but Harry seemed to be positive about his statement. Matilda thought Harry could make a trick of magic, so she decided to hold still and waited. Harry moved toward the furniture and took some of them out his way. He stood up in front of a big wardrobe, and he opened it.

"Do you want to come first?" Harry asked Matilda in a cheerful voice.

She steps back. The wardrobe was old and shabby. Seeing it made Matilda reminding every horror movie she used to watch at home. She looked at Harry and tried to remember that her father trusted him, so he could not be a kidnapper.

"No way," Matilda denied.

"I think it's better if Mr. Weasley goes first, and then we go together" Harry proposed.

"Where am I going to appear?" Mr. Weasley asked Harry with curiosity. "I thought this place was part of the Diagon Alley neighborhood since I need to be there soon."

"Don´t worry; you'll be." Harry calmed his father-in-law. "Diagon Alley is far away from here. It's actually at Chasing Road, but Hermione told me that now muggles arrive in Diagon Alley from the different magic neighborhoods London has."

"Where are the others?" Matilda inquired.

"Well, I know there's one here, and another one is in Oxford and… uh… Don't know the others, I'm sorry" Harry admitted, "Hermione told me that all of them have their vanishing cabinets that connect with the one Hannah has in Leaky Cauldron."

Mr. Weasley jumped into the wardrobe and closed the doors behind him. Matilda looked attentively, trying not to blink, so she did not miss anything. A minute just passed before Matilda gave up and realized there were not going to be any fireworks.

"I think it's our time," Harry said and opened the wardrobe again.

Although it was something she knew, she still got surprised when she learned that Mr. Weasley got disappeared. Harry helped her to jump and closed the door. The wardrobe was dark and small as if only a person fitted in it.

"Lumus! "Matilda heard Harry's voice near her and saw how a small light was getting bigger until it illuminated the place.

"Is that a wand? Can I touch it? Can I have one?" Matilda screamed

Harry could not help but smiled. He knocked on the wardrobe wood and made a silent sign to his niece. She did not say anything else, but her eyes widened when an anonymous knock answered them. Someone opened the door, and Matilda turned to see who interrupted them, but instead of the narrow street, she discovered a warm, tall and busy tavern. A round face boy greeted them, and Matilda knew he was the one who opened the door.

"Where is this place?" Matilda asked confused.

"Harry?" The boy asked. "Harry Potter?"

Harry nodded, and the boy ran and got into the kitchen of the tavern. Matilda felt surprised at her uncle's uncomfortable glare. It seemed that he did not like to be recognized by people and Matilda wondering the reason. The boy reappeared again with a man who was identical to him. Matilda guessed they were father and son.

"Harry" the man called "I didn't know you're coming by the cabinets. Thought you came from fireplaces, like Hermione and…

"Who's Hermione?" Matilda begged, "Is she your wife?"

Harry looked at her and then at the man.

"No, I… uh… Picked up my niece, because of she… uh… got the letter. Hermione told me how to come here, and a vanishing cabinet sounded safer than Floo net. "Harry explained.

"Uncle Harry" Matilda called him again "Who's Hermione and who's this man?"

"Oh, I'm sorry Matilda. He's Neville, and he's going to be one of your teachers at Hogwarts. And Hermione is my best friend."

"And your sister-in-law" Neville added.

"By the way, do you know where Ginny and the kids are? I thought they'd be here already" Harry asked.

"Oh, they came before. But James wanted to check the broomsticks before you came so that they might be there." Neville informed and checked his clock. "She told me that they're going to be at Gringotts in twenty minutes by now, in case you couldn't find them at the shop."

"Well, in that case, we should be going. Thank you, Neville" Harry said, and he and Matilda left the tavern and got into Diagon Alley.

A strange deja vu came to Matilda when she looked at the street. It was not how she imagined it, but there was even better. In front of her, it appeared a cobbled avenue with buildings painted in flashy colors and odd people. There were some families here and there; some of them were carrying big packets while others were doing a window-shopping. A bunch of kids was looking at a window where there were some broomsticks. Close to them, a plump woman wearing a short rope was cleaning some cauldrons up.

"Copper, brass, pewter and… silver. There you go…" she mumbled as Matilda and Harry passed near her.

Matilda heard her, and something came up into her head. She had read something like that before.

"You probably got that in your letter of Hogwarts" Harry explained to her. "There is a list of materials new students need to buy. Check on it".

Matilda looked into her bag, but there was nothing.

"Oh, no! "She cried "I forgot the letter… Do you think…? Do you think they let me buy the stuff even without them?"

"Uh… I guess" Harry answered since he never went to Diagon Alley without a shopping list. "Don't worry. All new students have the same inventory, and my youngest daughter is going to begin Hogwarts this year, so you girls will have the same things."

"Oh, thank God!" Matilda sighed "Where is she?"

"There, at the bank. Can you see it?" Harry asked.

Matilda looked at the place Harry pointed. At the end of the avenue, there was a building seemed to fall at any moment. The front door reminded her of a Greek temple that was attacked by several bombs during its existence. She was sure that the bank only held still because of magic since it was impossible any architecture approved that plans. She nodded and followed her uncle through the bronze doors that separate the place from Diagon Alley.

"Look at there," Harry said when they faced a new pair of door, silver this time.

There were some words engraved upon them, and Matilda read them as quickly as she could.

"Are they a spell?" She asked

"I think so" Harry responded, "And they also have a dragon to keep things from thieves."

"Wow," Matilda marveled. "Do I have to change my money here? Dad told me that you have another currency".

"Yeah, we do" Harry answered.

He never came to Gringotts to exchange currency, and he still felt intimidated at sight of goblins. Sometimes, he wondered where all his past bravery went after defeating Voldemort. He approached the first goblin he saw standing in the middle of the hall.

"Excuse me, sir. Where can we exchange muggle currency?" Harry asked.

"Follow me," the goblin said and led the way to a smaller room.

As the vast hall they left, this lobby had another long counter, but there were fewer goblins than in the main entrance.

"How much money do you have? "A swarthy with sharp glace looked at them.

Matilda put her hand on her purse and grabbed something small. Harry, who expected an envelope with money, got surprised when he saw a plastic card.

"A card? "He blurted.

"A credit card "Matilda explained, "Dad told me to not worry about the money. Well, if and when I buy all the essential things.

"Which kind of card is it? "The goblin asked

"What do you mean?" Harry panicked. "Do you know how these cards work?"

Harry knew few things about credit and debit cards. He saw them sometimes when he lived with the Dursleys, although he never used any of them. The goblin, however, ignored him and kept talking to Matilda.

"Is it a chip card or does it work with password?" He asked.

"It's a chip one. I need my phone and my fingertip to approve the transference" Matilda explained.

"Do you have your phone with yourself?"

"Yes, sir. "Matilda responded.

"In that case, wait a second. Goldstein! "Goblin shouted, and a skinny black woman appeared close to them.

"Another chip card muggle?" she asked in a cheerful voice.

The goblin nodded, and she asked Matilda for her card.

"Oh, these are new!" She seemed fascinated, and Harry regretted Mr. Weasley was not still with them. "Oh, well, I'm sorry, I'm Amanda Goldstein, and I'm your assistant now. The thing is they do not trust money they cannot touch, so it has been very complicated to exchange currency these days. But not to worry, don't worry, don't worry. Some of us really like muggles, and we worked with some expertise, and we have now a computer. Of course, it's not a big thing or… uh… you know, like the device you guys have at home, but it receives messages… and… uh… you can call… your bank, for example. And… also, well, the most important thing, it blocks magic. So, it can work here".

Harry could see the wizard was nervous and he could not help it but be sorry for her. It had to be hard to like both worlds and try to connect one to another. The worst part was that probably everyone thought the whole thing was a failure. Wizards thought so little about muggles and their technology, while muggles used to laugh when someone mentioned magic. He looked around while his niece was approaching the computer to see if there was any face he could recognize. To his surprise, his best friend, Hermione Granger, was there.

"Harry!" She called him "Why are you here?"

Harry explained to her what was going on with his niece.

"Did they? I mean, improve all these methods? Don't tell Ron, but sometimes it's like wizards got stuck in the medieval age."

"Seems like that, at least," Harry said while Matilda approached them "Look, she's here."

Matilda joined them with a brown leather bag in her hands. Harry introduced both of them and proposed to leave Gringotts and get the school items. They arrived at Madame Malkin's store after they have already bought her cauldron, spell books, scrolls, quills, and ink. While Madame Malkin tailor sized the rope, Harry found a moment to talk to Hermione.

"Why were you at Gringotts? I thought you have already made the shopping" Harry asked

"We did. But I needed to come to Gringotts and reviewed how the bank adapts to the muggle technology. You know that last year the British ministry of magic voted to be part of the European Witches' Sabbath and now there are some requirements we need to meet. And one of those is that our Gringotts works with muggle technology. So we're studying the bank and dealing with goblins, which is the hardest part".

"Oh. It sounds… uh… intensive" Harry replied.

"Isn't it exciting? "Hermione said with a cheerful voice "It's going to be a really hard work, but we probably learn a lot. I wish we had that when we're at school."

Harry thought about how it would have been this muggle friendly policy at his school days. Even with the Dumbledore tendency to protect muggles against the hatred of wizards, there were troublesome times for them. The past Voldemort war did not finish with his parent's death; neither did the idea of mud blood. In fact, if Harry gave a second thought about that, it was not even a Voldemort idea, but something that was there before him arriving at Hogwarts. It was just an excuse Voldemort used to throw away his real name, Tom Riddle, and built his power of terror manipulating people who did not want to lose their privilege to attack defenseless people. It was an immature strategy that muggle universities had already written about a lot.

"I like to think about that as a tribute to Dumbledore wishes" Harry answered.

Hermione smiled and opened her mouth to say something, but she was interrupted by Matilda. The girl had finished, packed her rope and paid for it.

"Uncle Harry, where do we buy the wand?" Matilda asked.

"We need to go to Ollivanders. This way" Harry said, and the three of them headed to the store.

There were some people Harry knew standing by the front of Ollivanders. Matilda looked at them and saw two red hair kids and a woman with them.

"Finally," The woman said to Harry, "We thought we never find you."

"Sorry, "Harry apologized, "Neville told me you guys went to Quidditch supplies."

"Oh, Dad, we did aaaaand it was stunning" The boy exclaimed "You need to check the new broomstick. I'm sure you love it."

"Maybe I do, but if that's the case, I'll keep it for myself" Harry replied, and the boy's smile disappeared.

"Come on, dad! What am I going to do with your Firebolt? It's incredibly old! It's even older than me!"

"Still, it's good. There aren´t broomsticks like that anymore" Harry stated, "And James, remember what your mom always says…"

"It's not the broomstick but the player's ability. Yeah, dad, alright" James said.

Harry looked to his wife, who had a girl, exactly like her, holding her hand.

"Hi, honey. Here is Matilda" Harry introduced his niece "And Matilda, these are James, Lily, and Ginny."

"Hi," Matilda and Lily said at the same time.

James just moved his head, and Matilda thought he was still thinking about broomsticks. She wanted to ask what a Firebolt was but she suddenly felt shy. She looked around to see if there was another person.

"Uncle Harry, Dad told me that… uh… you have another son" She mumbled.

"Oh, yeah, he's inside" Ginny announced, "Lily wanted to be sure you're here when the wand chooses her, but Albus got already there."

"Why?" Harry asked

"You'll see." Ginny made a sad smile and led the entrance to Ollivanders.

Few candles illuminated the shop. Here and there, there was an infinite number of slim and long boxes. The shelves began at the bottom and ended at the roof. There was no piece of wall empty. Matilda looked around and wondered how the people who worked there could figure out which wand was the one she needed.

"Albus" Ginny called her son, and a pale kid turned.

He was standing at the counter, where there were three people. One of those seemed to be a kid as the same age of Albus, so Matilda supposed they were friends. The others were two adults who were arguing in a soft voice.

"I cannot do that. It does not work like that, and it would be dangerous, Mr. Malfoy" The old man who was behind the counter was repeating with patience.

"It is the same kind of wand my family always had. It'll fit, I know. "Mr. Malfoy, a tall, grey long hair man argued.

"Albus" Ginny repeated, and the Malfoys acknowledged their presence.

Albus said goodbye to his friend and joined his family. He cheered Lily, who was trembling near Matilda. The last looked at her uncle, but she found Harry focus on Mr. Malfoy. The old man also observed Harry with a nasty look.

"Please, Mr. Malfoy "Ollivanders insisted, "I need to attend them."

Mr. Malfoy did not move, so Harry took Lily's and Matilda's hands and approached the counter. There was a box opened on it, and Matilda could see the wand through the silk that covered it. She examined it as she wondered what you need to make your fairy staff. Should it be heavy or soft? Which kind of wood would you need to build one? Which type of magic do you need for it? Do you need a potion or another witch stick? Or does the wood already have magic? She approached her hand to take it, and for her surprise, nobody did anything to stop her. She grabbed it, touched it and cuddled it. She felt the texture of the wood and weight it. She felt absorbed in all the questions the wand did her thinking about when a cough interrupted her. She turned and saw Ollivanders.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to…" She apologized.

"Move it," Ollivander said, "Just move it."

Matilda raised her hand and moved her wrist. The lights from the candles grew bigger and brighter. Ollivander smiled.

"Unicorn! Applewood and quite flexible. Nine o two inches" He described the magic stick "Quite a smart one.

"She can't have it" Mr. Malfoy shouted "That's our wand. It belongs to us. It should be ours!"

"Mr. Malfoy, " Ollivander snapped. "I told you. It's the wand that chooses the wizard, not the opposite. I was betraying myself if I'm giving to you when you already have a wand instead of selling it to this girl."

"I do not need a wand!" Mr. Malfoy hissed offended. "You know that well."

"I know, Mr. Malfoy. And I also know that if you wanted a chance to get the wand, you should come here with the one who needs it." Ollivanders replied with a sharp voice. "Now, please."

Mr. Malfoy got red in anger. He made a sign to the kid, and both of them left the shop. When they were gone, the rest of the family joined Harry near the counter.

"Are you prepared? " Ginny asked her smaller kid.

Lily nodded and then she started to prove the witches' sticks Ollivanders gave to her. She needed more time to find her match than Matilda, but nobody made any joke. Finally, she was chosen by one of the longest wand Ollivanders had sold.

"Fourteen inches, dragon core, pinewood and flexible! That's a good one, really wise; you can do unexpected things with it."

Harry paid for both of them, and they went to the Leaky Cauldron.

"Hey, right here" Someone with his hand raised called them.

Mr. Weasley was back again, and with him, there were two kids and another man.

"How was it?" The man asked after kissing Hermione on the check. "Do you have all your stuff?"

"Hi, Ron!" Harry greeted him "I didn't know you're coming."

"Rose here" Ron pointed his daughter "She wanted to check the Woodwing 7.1. She dragged Hugo and me here to remember how much it costs and why I'm not buying it."

"Thanks, dad" Rose replied, and after that, she started talking about Quidditch with James.

The conversations soon got over the table. Everyone was talking with someone, but Matilda did not know how to start a dialogue. She was tempted to chat with Mr. Weasley about what he thought about traveling in a tube, but he seemed to focus on what Mrs. Dudley always called an adult conversation with Hermione. Matilda was sitting between Harry and Albus, but her uncle's mind was on another topic.

"So, are you sure it was Lucius Malfoy who was at Ollivanders?" Ron inquired Harry and Ginny. "Why do you think he needs another wand? He already has one. All Malfoys got theirs".

She felt wrong that she sat down on the opposite side from Lily and Hugo, where both of them were talking about their expectations for Hogwarts. With a sigh, she turned to Albus, who was listening to his parent's words with a sad expression.

"Ey, mmm who is Malfoy?" Matilda asked with shy voice "Is him a friend of yours?"

"Yeah, he is," Albus admitted.

"And your dad doesn't like him because he doesn't like his father?" Matilda tried to understand what was going on.

"How do you know?" Albus asked

"Well, it sounds classic." She smirked "For example, in my case, it's the opposite. The son of my father's best friend is someone I really hate."

"Why do you hate him? Albus asked

"He's a bully and a really disgusting person. He thinks he can mess up with anyone" Matilda explained.

"Uh, you sound like my father talking about Mr. Malfoy. Father and grandfather, who's the one you meet at Ollivanders' by the way" Albus shrugged.

"And how is your friend?" Matilda queried.

"He's kind and brilliant. Both of us are in Ravenclaw. I mean, he's not even in Slytherin, but I guess the problem is that I'm not in Gryffindor neither" Albus complained.

"Wait, what? What's that? Where do all these names come from? "Matilda showed her confusion.

"Oh, sorry, I forgot. Hogwarts divided students into four houses, which are like your team. You earn points for it from everything you do well; you lose them when you disobey, you know. And the names of the houses are Gryffindor, where all my family got into; Ravenclaw, where Scorpius Malfoy and I are; Hufflepuff, where the owner of the Leaky Cauldron got; and Slytherin, where supposedly evil people go." He explained.

"And the Malfoys, I assume" Matilda completed.

Albus nodded.

"I wonder which one be mine," Matilda thought loudly "How do you choose it. Or you can't?"

After they ate their lunch, the Potters and Weasleys decided that it was the time to come back home and finish their luggage. Harry left Matilda at Dursley house and insisted in the last few things.

"Meet me here at 10:30. King Cross is bigger each day, and it's ridiculously easy to get lost. I'll explain you later how to get into the station" Harry said to Matilda before he left her at Dursley house. "See you tomorrow. And, uh, don't bring the credit card with you. They only exchange cash."


	4. The Ceremony Selection

Disclaimer: Have a merry Christmas this year and this is my present for you. As always, if you see anything I should check and review, please let me know in the comments. Thank you

Matilda left the car in the pedestrian opposite King Cross. She saw Harry from her seat as the car got closer to the train station and waved her hand until her uncle saw her and made a move. The driver helped her to put down all the luggage she brought with herself and left before Harry made the way to them.

¨Who was that?" Harry asked.

"Oh, he's just my Uber driver."

"Who?" Harry repeated, but Matilda focused on her mobile phone. "Why do you bring that here? I thought I told you it's utterly useless in Hogwarts."

"I know, I know. But I need it before I get there and it'll be useful when I arrive back." She replied without looking at him "Wait a moment, please, I need to review the driver."

"Who? What? Why?" Harry asked confused. Then an idea popped into his head "Wait, you do know that guy, don't you?"

"No really, no. I mean, that's just an Uber driver. But he's nice. He told me that last year he brought here a guy with an owl in a cage. He was so scared and…"

"Why do you get in a car with a man you don't know?" Harry scandalized "Does your father know?"

"Of course he does." She answered so quickly that Harry stared at her inquisitively "Well, he asked me to take a cub, but Uber is so much cheaper. And I don't have to worry about money, and you told me not bring cash so… I just obey you, uncle Harry" She summed up.

Harry looked at his niece and realized there was no way to win against all these arguments. Nor because she was right but because he did not understand a word about what she said. What the hell Uber was? And how could you pay without money? He decided to forget about that and moved on to the world he knew the most.

"It's OK. Just let's go. We don't want you to lose the train.".

They walked among the crowd that was waiting for their trains. Here and there you could see some works on the platforms and some guards that were organizing the pedestrian traffic.

"Where are my cousins?" Matilda asked, "I can't see them."

"They are already there," Harry said while he was pushing the luggage. "There, platform nine."

"I still can't see them" Matilda complained.

There was a bunch of people here and there, but not so much that it was impossible to find her family. Not if they wore the same odd clothes as the last time.

"Give me your hand, kid," Harry asked her.

"I'm not going to get lost. I'm a grown-up" Matilda protested.

"I know, but we are going to get into the magic platform, so we are going to go through the wall." Harry pointed to the space between numbers 9 and 10.

"Through what?" Matilda shouted.

Harry laughed.

"It's okay. Just hold my hand."

She did, and as they walked faster against the wall, she tried to keep her eyes opened so she could get a glimpse of what could be in the middle of the muggle platform and the magic one. There was no luck.

They walked a bit until they found the rest of Potter family and the Weasleys.

"Ey, kid, how are you doing?" Ron asked Matilda "Are you ready for your biggest adventure?"

Matilda nodded, and she felt her shyness coming back. Ron Weasley seemed like an NBA player, especially when Harry was near him and it was easy to compare both of them.

"I still remember how Harry acted during our first trip!" Ron exclaimed, and Harry and he laughed.

"I felt completely lost. The Dursleys, I was left there, and nobody believed me when I asked about platform 9 and ¾." Harry remembered.

"But you found us" Ginny completed "And as always, a woman saved your life."

"You're right," Harry said and kissed his wife "I didn't know how I could survive during my Hogwarts years without my girls."

"If only were you" Ron added "If someone would ever write a book about every year we had, they hat could title them with the countless ways Hermione saved us."

"Touche," Harry said, "But I'm glad Hogwarts stopped being as dangerous as when we're there."

"I disagree with you" James, his older son, replied, "It would be awesome if it were at least as funny as your stories."

"Well, bad for you" Ginny agree with Harry.

"I think they exaggerate their stories" Rose commented "It's impossible that someone gets so much bad luck as you do. No way, you're just teasing us."

Noises from the train interrupted the conversation. The Potters and the Weasleys felt the urge to give last pieces of advice to their children instead of remembering their student battles. Albus, who was near Matilda, sighed as he wanted to be already on the train. At his left, Lily and Hugo moved nervously and looked around them. Hermione hugged her son and murmured something that only the kids around him could listen.

"It's okay, sweetie. It doesn't matter which house you end up. They'll be lucky to have you. I know we are"

A second call was followed by a third, and after it, Matilda found herself in the train corridor, looking for a compartment. She was with Lily and Hugo, and the three of them were following Albus who seemed to look for something or someone. He founded it almost at the end of the couch they were, and Matilda did not felt surprised when Scorpius Malfoy welcomed them.

"Do you think it's a good idea?"Matilda heard Lily said to Hugo.

He shrugged and looked directly at Scorpius

"Do you mind?" Hugo asked him

"Not at all" He replied, "Unless you insult my parents or me."

"Don't know them" He explained, "I couldn't think what to say."

Albus sat near Scorpius and invited his sister and cousins to join him. Lily, Hugo, and Matilda sit at the other side, and an uncomfortable silent appeared between them. Matilda analyzed Scorpius trying to understand what was what her uncle had against him, but the guy noticed it. He held her gaze, and Matilda blushed before she looked away.

"Ey" Someone stepped into the cabin "Ey, guys, I was looking for you!"

She was a black girl with curly hair and bright eyes. Matilda liked her almost instantly, but she did not know what to say.

"Is she your sister?" The girl asked Albus and pointed Matilda.

"Oh, no, she's my cousin: Matilda Dursley" Albus answered her and Matilda could sense how the tension in the atmosphere relaxed. "That one is my sister. I thought you know my sibling are red hair, Fa."

"Sorry, I only keep useful information in my head" Fa smiled "Like… how many Ravens we're going to win today!"

She made a place between Albus and Scorpius and checked Lily, Hugo and Matilda's faces.

"What do you think, kids? Any of you want to be part of us?" She asked.

"You're wasting your time here, Fa" Albus informed "They'll get in Gryffindor. I'm afraid we're just enjoying their last minutes of freedom."

"Don't think so, A." She said "I can see potential there. Just wait for it. And you kids, don't worry about Selection. The Ravenclaw doors are opened for everyone. You only have to know how to enter them."

"What was that?" Lily asked after Fa left the room.

"Oh, she's Facinya. Fa, for friends. She's Raven, of course, and she loved to know everything about everyone at school" Albus said.

"But she also knows how to keep a secret" Scorpius added, "She could be a priceless journalist, but she's smarter than that."

"What do you mean?" Lily asked

"She always said information is power, so she rather keeps it to herself."

"I bet most of the information are useless" Hugo commented. "I mean, which kind of big secret anyone can have in a school?"

"Don't know really" Albus answered, "But I wonder what she means with that none of you would be in Gryffindor."

"Do you want to be in Ravenclaw? "Scorpius asked shyly. "I promise we'll be good mentors to you if that's so."

"I don't know," Hugo said after a moment of silence "I don't want to choose any place. I mean, I want to be chosen.

"How's so? "Matilda asked because she felt like the opposite

"You know, the Hat looks into you, and it can see your best, what'd be nicer than when anyone, including me, looks at me. So, I just want to know where I fit best."

"Sounds smart," Scorpius commented.

"Sounds boring," Matilda said at the same time.

"What? Why" Scorpius asked.

"Well, that sounds like an assignment" She tried to explained "Like when you're in school, and they told you: okay, you'll be the ballgirl and you do your best collecting balls from the games other kids play"

"If you put it in that way…"Scorpius said

"Did you do that at your school?" Lily asked abruptly.

Matilda blushed and negated it.

"Of course not" She answered in a higher voice.

She looked disgustingly at Lily and wondered if her cousin wanted to hurt her deliberately. The truth was that she hated physical education classes. She was hopeless at them. She hated running, climbing and all these things teacher tried to train them. During her elementary school, she got used to being the last in the E.F. class, although it hurt her pride because she was always the first in the rest of the subjects. Well, only Languages and History classes. Mathematics, Physics, and the others were understandable when Moira explained them to her. She did not know what she could do without her sister.

During the rest of the trip, the kids tried to not talk about school again. They instead played some Explosive Snap and taught Matilda about the Chocolate Frogs Wizard Collection.

"Who's Severus Snape and what did he do?" She asked when she opened her first Chocolate Frog.

"He invented some dark magic spells and potions" Hugo informed.

"And gave his name to our dearly Albus" Lily added.

"Do you know how to create new spells? "Matilda craved.

"No way" Scorpius laughed "He does enough when he pronounces them in the right way."

"What are we going to learn in our first year? "Hugo asked eagerly

Albus and Scorpius talked about their first attempts to do magic with a wand until the Hogwarts Express stopped and they were dragged by other students outside.

"We'll see later," Albus told them as he disappeared with the rest of crowd.

"First year?" A giant with a loud voice called them, and Matilda found herself in front of what she thought was the most prominent person she ever has known.

"Wow, who… who's? "She attempted to talk

"He's Hagrid. He's an old friend of my dad" Lily informed her.

Hagrid explained to them that they had to get into some boats and they would reach the castle from the lake. Matilda followed Lily, Hugo, and a Korean boy and sat with them. There were five boats more, twenty freshmen students. The night was dark, but around the ship, a lamp lighted the faces that were there. Most of them seemed scared and anxious. Matilda wanted to know what the others could see on her face since she did not know how she felt. She looked into Lily's face, but her cousin seemed like a stone wall to her. She remembered when Lily asked her about her years in the Muggle Elementary School, and Matilda found herself confused as she realized she did not know if that question was genuine or mean.

They arrived to land and followed Hagrid until they found a Latino woman waiting for them with her arms crossed. Matilda saw with relief that the woman was an average person. She had blond and dull hair, wearing purple metallic glasses and seemed very strict.

"Professor Gomez, here are the new students," Hagrid said.

"Thank you, Hagrid" She answered as he left them there. "Welcome to Hogwarts. The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses."

She stopped for a moment, and Matilda looked around. They were at the beginning of a marble staircase. Flaming torches lighted the corridor, and there were also some metallic armors close to the walls. Matilda wondered if the rest of the castle was as marvelous as this Entrance Hall was and if she'd ever get used to it.

"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a moment. I hope you are ready for it. Form a line and follow me" She commanded.

Matilda felt that something glue her feet to the floor as she saw all their classmates started walking. Two big doors opened and let everyone see what the Great Hall looked like. It was so stunning that Matilda could react in time and run to catch the line on time before doors closed. She felt like she was in a dream. Thousands of candles were floating in mid-air and a black sky filled with starts acting as the ceiling. A soft melody sounded at the other side of the place, and Matilda headed to there. She saw five large tables were students and teachers were sitting. Four of them were facing each other, and at the bottom of the room, she could see all the professors and the origin of the song. It came from a hat. Not a nice one, but a patched, frayed, dirty and old-fashion hat. A Hat with a rip that moved as it sang. Matilda looked at it astonishingly, and when she got used to it, the thing stopped the song, and the whole Hall applauded. Then she realized she did not get a word of the song and panicked. What if the Hat said something about how they were going to be chosen? She tried to keep calm and listen carefully to Professor Gomez.

The witch, who was standing near the Hat, unrolled a parchment.

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she said "Boot, Dennis."

Matilda sighed with relief. She was glad that the song was not part of the Sorting Ceremony and also that this one would be so easy. She closed her fists knowing that her surname was at the beginning of every class list.

"Dursley, Matilda"

She stepped forward and sat while Professor Gomez put the Hat on her head. Matilda tried to empty her head so the Sorting Hat could find her best, as Hugo pointed earlier. It was difficult since she had hundreds of questions running through her mind. Which kind of magic did make the Sorting Hat? Was it possible to make a stuffed toy able to talk? And with its intelligence? How does the spell work? Or was a magic fabric? Or was it through a potion?

"By Merlin! I hope the other students are as easy as you!" A voice exclaimed in her head.

"Are you talking to me?"She asked scared

"Kind of. Don't think I'm talking. I'm thinking…" the voice replied.

"How does it work? And why did you say I'm easy? "Matilda thought

"Well, it's obvious that you are eager for knowledge. You have thousands of questions in your mind, and there is only a place where you find your answers."

"Which one?" Matilda asked, but the Hat answered her in a shout

"RAVENCLAW"

She smiled as she gave back the Hat and headed to a bunch of people who were cheering. She was glad the students welcome every first-year student because if they were not, she never discovered which House was hers.

"Ey, Em" A girly voice called her. "Sit with us."

Matilda followed the voice and found Facinya. She has Albus and Scorpius at her left and some girls at her right. Dennis Boot, the guy who was before her, was also there. He invited Matilda to sit near him.

"Hi," Matilda said with a smile.

After she sat, the applause soft and Professor Gomez said the next names:

"Engels, Harriet"

"GRYFFINDOR"

Matilda looked at James and Rose on the table that burst into an applause and saw them close to the wall. They had red pendants with a drawn lion on them. Between her table and theirs, there was another one that had a pale yellow pendant with a badger in there.

"Forester, Samuel"

"SLYTHERIN"

Cheers and yells appeared at Matilda's back, who jumped with surprise. She just found where the Slytherin House, with their green pendants with silver snakes, was.

"Gautama, Siddharta"

"HUFFLEPUFF"

A smile in Professor Gomez face explained Matilda that she was the Hufflepuff Headmaster. Matilda wondered who Ravenclaw's was. Two other kids got into Hufflepuff: 'Kim Han-Bin', the Korean boy who was in her boat earlier, and a Latino girl with a brown braid collecting her hair, 'Lopez, Costanza.' Then Gryffindor House got its turn, and the Hat sent to them 'MacDonald, Jack', 'Martinez, Laia' and 'Maathai, Wangari.'

"I haven't seen this kind of ethnical variety in a while" A girl near Facinya said

"They don't have very magic surnames "another girl pointed "so they probably come with muggle families."

Matilda thought of how her previous school was changing during her childhood. In the beginning, most of the neighbors were people her parents had known when they were young. However, the European and World Wide Crisis, that her mother used to say it happened in 2008, when Matilda was two years old, forced lots of people to emigrate to other countries. One of the chosen destinations was the United Kingdom, so the Dursley' s neighborhood filled with families from everywhere.

"Nott, Cornelia"

"That's my cousin," Scorpius said to Albus and Matilda "She's the daughter of my mother's sister."

"I didn't know you have a cousin" Matilda replied, "Why did she not coming with us on the train?"

The Hat decision to send her to Slytherin and the noises the house made impedimented Matilda hear Scorpius answer. She was going to ask again when Professor Gomez said 'Potter, Lily.' The little red-haired girl stepped forward and waited for the Hat decision. Matilda looked how Albus closed his eyes and crossed his fingers over the table.

"Why does he…?"She asked Scorpius

"She's the last Potter. All of them got to Gryffindor, except him. So, if she got with the lions, he'll always be the weird one" Scorpius explained.

Matilda wondered if Albus was praised for his sister to join Ravenclaw with them, or for she not being sorted into Gryffindor.

"How much time can the Hat being with someone?" Dennis asked

"Don't know" Facinya replied "But I've never been someone as difficult as her. She's lasting ages."

Matilda looked at James' and Rose's faces, among the other Gryffindors. Theirs were similar than Albus'. Finally, the Hat seemed to figure out its decision.

"SLYTHERIN"

A soft cheer came up from the green and silver table. Some of the students from there were as astonished as the Gryffindors. The rest of the Hall was in silent as Lily walked to the Slytherin table and sat behind Matilda. However, the Hat did not finish with Slytherin, and when 'William Pucey' joined Lily, the sound of clapping hands went back to the usual. 'Rawlinson, Henry', Shelley, Margaret' and 'Stuart, Elisa' joined Denis and Matilda at the Ravenclaw table, before 'Thomas, George' got into Gryffindor and Professor Gomez finally said 'Weasley, Hugo'.

It was shorter than with Lily. As soon as the Hat touched his hair, it shouted

"HUFFLEPUFF"

"By Merlin, A" Facinya laughed "You guys have the whole Hogwarts houses covered."

Matilda looked at her cousin, and she laughed too. He had a smirk smile like he did not believe what just happened. The two other kids that left were 'Wood, Katelyn' and 'Zabbini, Solange'.

"It's a pity she's got in Hufflepuff and not in Ravenclaw because now we need to win the Quidditch House Cup this year" Facinya informed the group "She's the daughter of the two Scottish national Quidditch players, Katie and Oliver Wood, and they are awesome athletes. "

"It's okay, we've got the son of Harry Potter and the grandson of James Potter," Scorpius said clapping his friend back, "And now you can make the tryouts."

"Seriously, A? Do you want to play?" Facinya asked

"I don't know. I only play for fun… I'm not as passionate as my siblings" Albus murmured

"What about you, kids?" Facinya asked the freshmen

Dennis, Henry, Margaret, and Elisa looked at each other and started talking about Quidditch. Matilda felt alienated as she realized she was the only one with muggle parents in her year. In a blink of the eye, she could see how the new groups would form. Dennis and Henry for a side, and Margaret and Elisa for the other. She sighed, and Facinya misunderstood her.

"Don't you like Quidditch?"

"I've never played it" She answered "I don't even know what's that. Only that you need a broom."

"Would you like to see one of our training?" Facinya asked and smiled showing all her teeth.

Before she realized, Matilda accepted. Hours later, when they left the Great Hall, and Matilda was sleeping in bed with a light-blue velvet curtain hanging from its posters, she praised for not being asked by Facinya about anything else. She was sure she could not say no to that girl.


	5. A Very Special Gift

**Disclaimer** : Everything belongs to J. K. R. except what you do not recognize.

 **Author note:** I always wanted to write this scene. Lily (or Albus) being in Slytherin is a common trope in fanfics, but I don't usually like how that affects the family, so I wanted to write my version.

These days I'm reading Anne of the Green Gables (the first time in my life, thank you Netflix), so my prose got some structures from Mrs. Montgomery. Hope you enjoy it.

And if you find any mistakes, please, please, please, let me know. I had the feeling that I spent more time checking that doing anything else.

* * *

It was five o'clock, and the Potter's house was as silenced as if a gosht moved on there. If Bathilda Bagshot, their old neighbor, were still living near, she would have noticed the restlessness that flood the house. Harry Potter had been sitting on his porch the whole day, with mounts of family albums around him. It seemed that he wanted to find something there: a secret or a formula that explained the currents. His wife, the famous Chaser of the Holyhead Harpes, Ginny Weasley Potter, was receiving so many owls since the last day that one could think that they started a mailing business. The Hallows neighboorhood was used to see a significant amount of owls leaving letters at number 9, since Mr. Potter was one of the biggest heroes of the last magic war, although his name was now not recalled by the younger wizards. However, this was unbelievable.

Unbelievable might not be the right word, if one thinks about it carefully. In the last magic war, Harry Potter fought against his fearest enemy: Lord Voldemort. He was fifty years older than Harry, and he was sorted on Slytherin House of Hogwarts. During last decades, being a Slytherin or a Gryffindor was the only requisite for having the other house as an enemy. It was told that if your family was Slytherin and one of you sons sorted into Gryffindor, you ought to renegade of him. It was an unacceptable, as worse as having a squib in one's own family; unforgivable, a blood crime. With that in mind, it was not strange at all that the Potter-Weasley, a numerous Gryffindor members family, had their garden filled with owls when Lily L. Potter was sorted in Slytherin.

Suddenly, everyone wanted to say something about it. Some people knew that this was going to happen since Harry Potter was always a weird kid, who also happened to talk with snakes, and Ginny Weasley visited the Chamber of the Secrets once. Some theories told that Lord Voldemort sent them a curse, so one of the Potter descendants became the new Dark Lord. There were some stories at the Daily Prophet that deserved to be in magazines less influential as it was the one that explained that Lily was born after a Ginny affair with Harry's school rival, Draco Malfoy. Most of the owls went there just to send the opinions of their owners; some of them to give them supporting advice for the new situations and the least demanded an explanation for it.

"I'm going to kill those birds!" Ginny Weasley shouted when a new owl arrived at the garden. "What is wrong with people?"

"Did you recollect all the letters?" Harry asked with his mind in another thing.

"Most of them" Ginny complained, "but it seems they never end.

"INMOBULUS" A familiar voice shouted from the yard.

Harry and Ginny looked at there, and they saw their friend Hermione Granger-Weasley. She was wearing her work robe as if she came from there. She moved her wand around the house and made a move to get into it.

"Come on in; you need a tea. Ron will be here in a moment with the chocolates.

Harry and Ginny let themselves fall on the sofas and looked around as if they did not recognize the place anymore. It was a big living room with a library full of Quidditch books, family photographs and boxes of board games. The chimney was in the center of the place and between it and the sofas there was a low cherry-wood table. From the window, they can see the frozen owls in the middle of their flight. Blue smoke came abruptly from the chimney, and a second later a red hair with pickles got into the room.

"Ok, kids, you got your frogs!

"Ronald!" Hermione looked at him disapprovingly "Be more sensitive

"Look at them, Herms. They need chocolate before any questions…" Because I warn you, I'm going to ask them a lot".

"I don't know if I would be able to answer them. "Harry replied

"Well, I thought we promised our kids that the weird days in Hogwarts just finished," Ron said with a smile "But I maybe not sure.

"Has it been always like that?" Hermione asked them "About the Gryffindor Slytherin rivalry. Or was only after Tom Riddle?"

"I don't know" Harry admitted. "He was quite old."

"Where did Hugo get into?" Ginny asked, "I could not find out anything since Lily's case."

"He's got in Hufflepuff, as the Sortener Hat offered his father before him" Ron explained.

"Really? You never told me that!" Hermione exclaimed.

"Well, yeah, he said I could work hard for being recognized. You know, when I was a kid I always thought nobody paid attention to me. I could say yes and got into Hufflepuff, but I was kind of afraid of not being even approved by the family if I do not get in Gryffindor. So, I'm not surprised at all that Hugo got there".

"Wow, that's… amazing" Hermione said

"Thank you! -Ron replied," I bet you were also invited to Ravenclaw."

"Yeah, I was -Hermione admitted" As your sister a year later.

"Really?" Ron looked at Ginny as she moves the head. "Why don't you do it?"

"I think it was the same reason as in your case." Ginny said "I was not as brave as I am now. I did not want to be the first Weasley in not being Gryffindor".

"Well, with that in mind, it is not weird that Albus sorted in Ravenclaw," Ron said

"I can't believe that you never told me that conversation about the Hat," Hermione told Ron "Why don't you do it?

"I don't know." Ron said, "Seemed like everyone was so sure about their houses, and guys don't talk about that kind of stuff like girls do."

"Ugh, being a guy sucks" Ginny laughed

Harry stood up, and his friends looked at him. He was in silent during the whole conversation.

"I was…" He began "I was offered to be in Slytherin that day. I thought it was because I was an horrocrux, but now… I guess it's my fault Lily got in there".

"I don't think it's anybody fault," Hermione said "it's not like it's a bad thing. We need to stop thinking with elitism about being sorted in a House or another. I know it´s how we grew up, but we didn't fight a war just to let everything fall apart because others have a different animal in their flags".

Harry looked at Hermione and felt an immense relief. She was right, as always. It was stupid for him to not think about that in this way. He tried to remember why he felt unpleasant about Slytherin at the first place and some memories came back to his mind. The first one was when he met Malfoy at Madame Malkin, and the guy reminded him as Dursley; the other was when Hagrid told him about Voldemort and Harry's parents. He found himself wanting to be as far as possible as Voldemort scope and he also thought that an excellent way to feel his parents close to him was being in Gryffindor, as they were. He was right, but if he thought about that now, it was probably that neither James nor Lily left their support for Harry if he would have sorted in another House. Their parents were smarter and kinder than Sirius Black's, and he was proud of them.

"I think I should write Lily." He decided and "Accio" some paper and ink "I didn't have time to spare since everything began.

"I have my letter here" Ginny added showing a roll of paper from inside her robe "I didn't dare to separate from it in case it gets lost in this chaos."

Meanwhile, at Hogwarts, the theories that flood Godric Hallows had arrived at the castle. Everyone whispered in corridors and be abruptly silent when any Potter or Weasley happened to appear. It was madness, and Matilda Dursley felt like she was going to punch someone in their faces at any moment. She wrote her sister and her family as soon as she got into her room and wished she could have a camera or a good drawing skill to show how impressive her bedroom was. She got her replies almost the next morning, and she had conflicting feelings about it. On the one hand, it was enthralling, but on the other, she can understand now the despair Albus felt as he realized that his parents had not written anything yet; neither to Albus nor James or Lily.

"Are you going to talk with her?" Matilda asked her cousin.

"What can I tell her?" He answered

"Well, I thought you don't mind at all in which House people are…"

"It's more complicated than that…"

"Is it because of the war?" Matilda wondered

"How do you know about it?"

"People talked"

"Oh, I thought all of them were in silent when I appear" Albus complained bitterly

"I don't think they know we are family… But don't worry, most of the stuff is completely useless."

"For example?" Albus asked as if it was hard to believe it

"Well, one of the stories I heard is that Lily is the no recognized sister of Scorpius." She laughed

Albus smiled, but Scorpius got pallid. He stood up and left them with an excused said so softly that they could not even hear.

"What did I say?" Matilda asked confused

"Don't know, but don't worry." Albus said "He's sensitive when the topic is his family. They are very private and don't like giving interviews or appeared in newspapers".

"Really? Well, I get it. I mean, I bet wizard families are less than muggle's born ones, so they don't want to be recognized everywhere they go".

"My grandpa always says that Lucius Malfoy is the opposite as his son, but I don't know, it might be because of the damn war adults love to talk about".

Matilda sighed. It was always the same story. Adults talked and talked as they wanted to be understood but they never explained what anything meant, so their kids repeat what they heard and did not mind if those sentences were cruel. She saw that in her neighboorhood when some parents were outraged with the emigration and their kids become bullies because of them. It was nasty, and the Dursley girls tried their best to follow Mrs. Dursley wishes to make the new kids felt welcome. She tried to remember what she used to do when a girl with a Hufflepuff robe sat near her.

"We're going to be late, come on!"

"That's impossible! We still have twenty minutes before the class begins" Matilda answered

"I don't want to lose myself in a corridor "The girl replied, "I don't know where the classroom is, so I want to have time enough."

"Where do you girls go?" Albus asked politely

"Charms," she said, "and after that, we've got Transformations and Flight."

"Do you have all the class together?"

Matilda brought her timetable up and looked at it.

"Only in the morning. At noon I've got Potions with Slytherin and History of Magic with Gryffindor."

"Sounds good!" Albus smiled "I have Herbology now, but I can go with you to the class, so you don't get lost."

"That'd be awesome! Thank you so much!" the Hufflepuff said.

"You're welcome…" Albus stopped as he realized he did not know the name of the girl.

"I'm Costanza. Another muggle-born witch." She said with a proud smile.

Albus looked at her and wondered what had changed. He grew up listening stories about the unpleasant feeling muggle-born wizards had when they were reminded that they do not belong to an old magic family. But there they were: his cousin and her new friend, both of them from muggle families, seemed proud about their roots. He left both of them at the Charms class door and ran to the greenhouse 2, where the second year students were preparing their class. As he got into the house, everyone shut up. He looked for Scorpius, but he was absent. What was going on? Why did Matilda's words affect him so badly? Everything was getting weird, so Albus felt relief when Profesor Longbottom told them that they were going to work with mandrakes. "Awesome," Albus though knowing that he could not hear any stupid jokes during the class.

Albus, Matilda, and Hugo found their mood cheered up after their first classes of the day. It was not the case of James and Rose, though. They had to share Potions with Slytherins, Transformations with Ravenclaw and Herbology with Hufflepuff. The results were so catastrophic that Gryffindor was relief that the year had just begun and they did not have many points to lose. Rose, who was almost as bright as her mother, stop worrying about answering the teacher questions and brought up her father spirit for the fight when she heard the zillionth joke about her favorite aunt being unloyal with her husband. When the Great Hall opened its door for lunch, Rose Weasley had already sent three boys and a girl to the infirmary and was called to the principal office. Everyone had their nerves cracked at Gryffindor table and, on the opposite side of the Hall, Lily was eating her pudding in silent.

She was worried. She felt brave when she dared to tell the Sortener Hat that she wanted to be in Slytherin. The Hat said to her that he understood why she had those ideas, but she might be being very much ambitious. "I thought Slytherin is for ambitious people" she replied, and the Hat laughed and sent her there. She knew, in her heart, that her parents will support her, but now her first doubts happened, and she began to lose her confidence. What if she made a mistake that she could not repair? What if her parents renegade of her because what their friends and coworkers thought about Slytherin? When she was a child, and Kreacher was still alive, he used to tell stories about Regulus Black, and she found in him a good role model. She never thought that Kreacher might color those memories to make Regulus appears as a gentleman; on the contrary, she believed that the youngest brother of her father godfather was the perfect charm knight. In her imagination, he was the smartest Ravenclaw when he decided to stay in Slytherin, for her family sake; the hardest worker Hufflepuff, when he investigated how to destroy Voldemort; the bravest Gryffindor when he dared to defy the greatest and darkest wizard of his time; and the most ambition Slytherin, when he pursued his ideas without thinking of himself. She was eager to be like him, to save the wizard society shattering the prejudices of the Hogwarts Houses, but she never thought that that community might not want to be saved.

She was thinking about it during her lunch and her first class of Potions. She sat down at the bottom of the classroom, suspecting that nobody wanted to sit with her. However, her surprise was capital when she found her cousin Matilda near her.

"What do you do here?"

"Potions?" Matilda answered confused.

"I mean, why do you sit with me?"

"Oh, I thought you wouldn't mind." Matilda replied, "You're the only person I know here."

"I don't care," Lily said fast. "It's just… you know… well, people are talking and I… If you want to have friends you might not want to be seen with me."

"But you're family."

"Nobody knows it."

"I don't understand something. What do you do that seems so terrible?"

Lily pointed to her snake embroidery.

"Just that? Samuel Forester is a Slytherin too, and he seemed nice."

"I don't know; I haven't talked to him yet" Lily observed her classmate "You don't understand it because you are a muggle…

"Yeah, I know" Matilda interrupted her "A muggle-born wizard. I like to be one; it let me see this problem from another point of view. You wizards need lots of new points of view."

"We certainly do!" Lily laughed and felt thankful because of her cousin.

After that, Matilda went to History of magic to discover how productive could the most boring class ever be. She found herself drawing on the paper and, after a while, she started to write Moira a small letter. She wanted to know what Moira could do in a similar situation, and when Professor Bins left the room going through the blackboard, she sent an owl to her. She received her answer in the first hour of the next day, and, after she read it, she jumped from the bed to look for Albus.

"I know what we can do!" she exclaimed at the asleep face of Albus.

"What? About what?"

"About Lily," she said in a softer voice to avoid anyone listening "This' going to work! I promise!"

"Ok, what do we do?"

"Well, first of all, we need to sneak away from school."


	6. A Muggle Perspective

Finally, the academic year is over. I know there was a long time ago when I published the last chapter and I want to apologize and thank you for the ones that keep reading it. I also thought I lost an episode, and that was kind of depressing, but I found it and clean it and revise it and bring that to you. I hope you like it.

And, as always, if you find something agrammatically, please tell me.

* * *

Matilda's idea was not the best she had, but it was the only thing she could think about at that moment. She did not know anything about Hogwarts yet so she could not think about another possibility. She just applied her muggle perspective to solve a situation, and since the problem seemed to be in the school, it sounded logic that the solution would be outside.

"There is a video game convection near, and I bet that that rises Lily's spirit. But I need my phone to google a map to find the place, and it doesn't work here, so we only need to be far enough from school to let it work.

Anyone could tell the kids that the plan was a fiasco, but Albus and Scorpius were curious about what the hell most of the words Matilda said meanly. What was a phone? And which kind of verb is google something? Both of the kids agree, Scorpius because he did not know how to stop his need for information; and Albus was sure that, after all the stories he heard from his parents, he knew how to get away from school. However, there were some issues they should solve first.

"We should talk with Lily first, shouldn't we? She might not want to come with us "Matilda said

"And we need to know where are the lines of Hogwarts! "Albus said amused

"We can ask Facinya about that, right? "Matilda proposed

"No way "Scorpius stopped her "She probably ask something in return, and I don´t want to debt her anything else.

"Anything else? "Albus repeated "What do you owe to her?

Scorpius shook the head, and he looked at Matilda:

"First things first. Let's talk to Lily. Where is she?

The three kids looked around each other. They were surrounded by older students who they did not recognize. Fortunately for them, Hagrid appeared in their vision. Albus run to him, and Scorpius and Matilda followed him after a second of doubt. The surprise got bigger when Hagrid told Albus that he should accompany him to Hagrid's place.

"Why? What's up? "Albus replied

"There is someone there who wants to talk with you.

"It might be Lily "Matilda murmured to, and the guy nodded.

Hagrid looked at them and, for the first time, Matilda felt incredibly insignificant at his side. There was also a weird glaze in the giant eyes that she could not decide if she likes or not. Hagrid had begun to walk towards his place, but Albus interrupted him:

"Can they come with us?

Hagrid looked at them with an awkward silence.

"Whatever you were thinking of their parents, I assure you, they are innocent "Albus added and then, Hagrid nodded.

He waved his hand to let them come into his place.

"Does he know about my parents? "Matilda asked her cousin in a low voice

"Nah "Scorpius replied "Don't think so. Potter probably said that because of me. My father wasn't exactly a Hagrid's fan and vice-versa.

The small cottage appeared at the end of the garden and some meters behind it one could see the tall and slim trees the Forbidden Forest had. Since it was midday and Summer did not leave September yet, there was no sign of terror in it. It seemed mysterious, and Matilda felt curious and frozen at the same time.

"What are you looking at? "Hagrid asked her in a neutral tone.

"It seems… pretty… I don't find the words… "She tried to explain

"It gives the idea that you can have a glorious adventure there, doesn't it?

"Yeah, exactly!"

"What? "Albus, Scorpius, and Hagrid shouted "You do not think about going into that, don't you?

Matilda wanted to say something, and he looked at Hagrid. Then, she realized that his roar was not direct to her, but to her cousin. It was Lily the one who had read Matilda's mind, and that made Matilda smiles. It might be easy to convince Lily to come with them.

"Do you want to go? "Matilda ran near Lily and asked her.

The smallest Potter sibling looked amused. She had said that because of her dispaired thoughts she was having these days. After another morning that no one was talking to her in her House and no owl arrived from home, she felt more lost than ever. She decided to visit Hagrid, since Harry always said that when problems got more prominent, Hagrid was there.

"Come on, you two, get inside, "Hagrid told the girls "I'll explain to you why you can't do that while we take a tea.

He opened the door, and an odor of wood and herbs welcomed them. The fireplace was empty, and an old and sick dog was lying near it. It opened its eyes when the kids entered the place, but it did not move. Fang, the old dog, was not going to do it even if Dumbledore appeared in front of it again, or maybe when that thing happened, it was the only moment it would feel energized once again.

"Do you want to leave Hogwarts? "Albus asked his sister as soon as everyone sat.

"Not forever, if that's the question… "She replied "But… if only I could go home in one or two days and talked with Mum and Dad…

"Do not they write to you? "Matilda asked surprised, and a bit embarrassed because she did not realize that none of her cousins received any owl from their parents. "That's…

"Awkard? "Lily asked with sarcasm

"I was going to say weird.

"Well, maybe the owl got lost "Scorpius tried "I mean, I can imagine everyone sending their own opinions to your parents. It's not like you are anonymous. It happened the same when your brother got selected.

"Really? "Lily asked Albus

Albus nodded, but he did not add anything else. Matilda understood that it was not similar at all, but she did not dare to say anything. However, Lily got that impression too.

"You should focus on being with your friends. People do not have to be in your same House to be your friend; you know that, right? "Hagrid tried.

"But everyone got their friends from their House. My parents knew each other when they got in Gryffindor, and it happened the same with Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione."She cried

"Not all their friends, tho "He added

"What do you mean? "Lily asked with her face in tears

"Well, your second name came from your mother best friend and Luna Lovegood was not Gryffindor.

"She was Ravenclaw, like us "Scorpius cheated to Matilda.

"And she spent more time with the friends she had from other Houses than the ones she was supposed to make in Ravenclaw.

"But Luna's a wonderful person "Lily complained "I bet everyone at Ravenclaw loved her and wanted to be her friend.

Hagrid looked in silence at the child. He could tell all the injustice the smartest students made to Luna when she was at school, but he also had his own stories and the ones that were about Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny. Hagrid still remembered, as if it was yesterday, the freshmen" Ginny walking around the castle as a ghost, Hermione sitting and eating alone in the Great Dinner because nobody wanted to talk to her; the sophomore"Harry feeling alone because he happened to speak parsel. And, of course, he remembered himself, calling a semi-giant by Skeeter and being bullying by students as if he was a defenseless kid again. The school was hard, it had always been hard, but he could not say that to Lily.

"Listen to him "Matilda talked again "we can go together. If you don't mind to come with some Muggle-borns, there is a bunch of kids that will accept you. And also…  
"We had an idea, "Scorpius said "if you want to come with us and leave the castle, obviously

Lily smiled weakly. If only she could escape the place just for a day... After it, she might feel better; she was sure of that.

"How do we leave Hogwarts? And when? "She asked promptly

"No way "Hagrid replied coming back from his memories "You kids cannot leave Hogwarts.

"Can or should?

"Should, of course! "Hagrid exclaimed "You should not leave the school, but, of course, you can leave. This is not a prison, you know. And if someone could escape from Azkaban, everyone could do the same here.

"Really? "Scorpius doubted "It sounded very complicated. I mean, you keep your eyes on everyone here, and you are the best who knows the place, aren't you?

"Well, I'm not the best, but I do a good job.

"So, nobody went outside, didn't they? "Lily asked again, who understood what Scorpius was trying to do.

"Well, there are sometimes… You can go through the Forbidden Forest, but most people who wanted to get into the castle in that way were dark wizards. If you are a reasonable person, you ride a thearstal, and they know their way to the train station, so once you are there, you can be anywhere. But it's hard to ride a thearstal because only people who testified death could see them. The best way to enter, or to leave the territory, is by flying. Your parents did that several times, actually. There was one time when they, in fact, flew to London with brooms.

"Oh, really "Albus exclaimed with a smile and winked his friends "Tell us more about that story, Hagrid.

When they went back to the castle, it was almost time for dinner. The Great Hall was not full yet so Lily could sit near Matilda while her cousin was taking some pieces of bread and dry fruits for both of them.

"We should have dinner outside "Matilda proposed them "We could talk easier where nobody could hear us.

"You're right "Scorpius nodded "We need a plan.

They sat on the grass and looked how the sun was falling down the sky and color everything at its pace. The horizon was red and yellow, and during some minutes, nobody dared to say anything. Then Lily did the central question:

"What do you have in mind?

"The thing is… "Matilda began, "I wrote my sister because she was always there when I felt uneasy, and she reminded me that this weekend there is a convention in Glasgow. Glasgow is a muggle city…

"We know what Glasgow is… "Albus replied "But it's not a muggle place! It's actually full of wizards… Do you want to go there? They can catch us really quickly.  
"Wait, what is a convention?

"It's an event where a group of people cosplays and play video games and role-playing and… It's awesome! And it will raise your spirit! It always does!

"Ok, I don't understand a word of what you've said but it sounds funny, so I'm in, "Lily said after a moment. "What about you two?

"Do we really need to wear muggle clothes? "Scorpius asked

"No really, no. Actually, we can wear our uniforms. There are lots of cosplay that are like these clothes.

Albus moved his lips asking for what the hell cosplay word means but Matilda did not realize about that.

"So, this is the plan "the girl clapped her hands – tomorrow, at the first hour, we meet each other near Greenhouse 1. You guys will take the brooms and said that you're going to practice. If anyone sees us, they'll assume that we're on a picnic. I don't think any student wake up early the first Sunday of the year, so we probably could fly away. How high can you fly?

"High enough" Scorpius calmed her.

"Awesome. Ok, so, tomorrow at 5 a.m. at Greenhouse 1, okay?

The Potters siblings and Scorpius nodded, and Matilda shivered. When she went to bed, she was so excited that she could not sleep at all. The next morning arrived sooner that her body wanted and later that her mind expected. She jumped from her bed and dressed in a restless silent dance. She took her mobile phone, the one she switched off the moment she got on the Express of Hogwarts. She took a cable and a plug and put them into her pockets. If the battery was run off and they could not find any muggle place with a socket, there were lost, but the possibilities got bigger if she carried the cable. She saw Scorpius in the Common Room, but Albus was not there.

"Where is he?

"He said he meet with us at the Greenhouse.

"Did you get the brooms?

"Yeah, he got him, and I've got mine. "Scorpius show his broom, and she started walked to the corridors.

When they passed near Great Hall, Matilda tried to enter it, but doors were closed.

"What are you doing? "Scorpius looked around nervous "You can draw Peeves.

"What, why? I'm hungry. I want to have breakfast "she complained.

"Not at this time "Scorpius replied "Breakfast is at eight on Sundays, don't you remember?

"It's my first Sunday here "she replied "of course I don't remember.

"Let's talk about that outside. I don't want to find Peeves or any ghost around us. "Scorpius said guiding Matilda to the greenhouses. "You did not think about that yesterday, didn't you?

"No, "she said sadly

"Well, when Albus and Lily were here, we would think about that. Oh, look at them, they're already here.

"Why did you last so much? "Albus asked them, "We thought you never did it.

"She was trying to force her entrance at the Great Hall.

"I wanted my breakfast "Matilda complained, in a soft voice.

"Then, we're your heroes "Lily smiled to her cousin "because we found each other at the kitchens an hour ago.

After saying that, Lily opened a box of food. At that moment, Matilda did not mind if the food the Potters brought would be just bread and a bottle of water, but the reality was better than her imagination. The box contained yogurt, dry fruits, bananas, apples, slices of slices of bread, strawberry marmalade, peanut butter and coins of chocolate.

"Do I tell you that I love you? "Matilda said to Lily when she ate a bit of everything.

Lily laughed, and Albus thought that, even if they never accomplish their mission, it was alright. However, thirty minutes later, the fourth of them were flying over the lake and the train station and some mountains nobody recognized until they saw several metal sticks planted on the grass holding three thick wires.

"Here, stop here. I need to check the phone, so we know where we're! "Matilda shouted from Lily's broom.

Albus and Scorpius, both of them at the same vehicle, stopped and checked if there was someone near them. But, apart of the sticks, there was only an empty and damaged road.


	7. The Nerd Alley

**THE NERD ALLEY**

The broomsticks riders left the wire fence and landed on a sunbaked paved road. On either side, they saw a wide-open country with one or two buildings here and there. On the horizon, however, several roofs announced that the city was near. The occasional passing cars grew in number as they got closer to the place. Matilda led the way walking as closest to the white mileage post she could while she was focusing on remembering all details of the only visit she did with her family to that convention. It was not in Glasgow, but in one of the small cities that it had around. What she could not forget, and it was the thing she was eager to find now, was the shopping mall where they stopped and had dinner before they come back home. It was a beautiful night, and when the faces of her parents appeared in her mind, she imagined their disappointment when they would discover what she was doing. She looked back to her friends, and the anticipation smile in Lily's lips made her forget about her elders. 

After thousands of steps, where she still could feel the ridge pavement. The fluorescent sign that advertised the shopping mall happened to appear. 

"There we go!" she exclaimed and pointed at the sign. "Come on, and we need to find a socket." 

"How does it look like?" Lily asked. 

"It's like a little square in the wall with three holes in it" -say Scorpius. 

"How do you know?" Albus looked at him suspiciously. 

Scorpius looked around and shook his head. His voice trembled when he spoke again: 

"Oh, I just supposed it'd be like that. I mean, look at the plug she held. Anyway, is it like that?" 

"Yeah…."Matilda murmured "And they should be in the down part of the walls, near the floor. 

The distance between Hogwarts and that shopping mall was far enough to make the clock be at its 11:30 when the kids arrived. They spent almost six hours on the go and although their tiredness wanted to appear, the idea of looking for something that they had never seen activated them again. 

On any other day, the shopping mall would have crowded with families entering and leaving every sort of retail stores, but that weekend was exceptional. Some of the mannequins in window displays stopped wearing the latest trends but armors and feudal kimonos as they were part of a fantasy movie cast. All over the place, one could find people disguised in odd clothes, talking, laughing and taking photos with kids that dragged their parent to the food courts and the toys stores. 

"Hey, you" someone shouted at Lily, who was looking down at the wall, "I think I know what you are looking for!" 

She turned back and felt breathless when she saw a young man in a uniform very similar than hers. She stared at him in horror. They caught them! They did not even get there, and the punishment was already here! She wished her parent's letters would have found their way to her as fast as the Hogwarts Prefects. 

"What?" her voice sank. 

"Are you going to the convention, aren't you?" 

"Well, yeah" she doubted about to tell him about her friends. If she left without saying them, they would be worried, but the moment she gave away them, they got punished too, and it would be her fault. 

"There is a bus that goes to the convention place from here, and it's free" He explained. 

"Free"? She repeated the last word trying to understand what was going on. Who was that prefect? 

"Oh, yeah. It seems that some stores at the Shopping Galleries sponsored the event, so they offer a mode of transport. By the way, I love your cosplay! Is it from an anime, isn't it? Mine too! Though, I don't recognize yours. What's the title? 

"A cosplay?" Then she realized. 

Matilda had told them that they could disguise themselves with their own uniforms, because there were lots of stories with students, so this guy probably thinks she was one of them. She stepped closer and looked at his clothes. She felt relieved when she checked that it was not a Hogwarts uniform. 

"Oh, well, I don't know. But my friends do, if I find them again. 

"You come as a group? Me too! But mine is already leaving, so I won't retake the bus. 

"The bus? Not a train?" She never rode on a bus, and now that she thought about it, she did not even know what a bus looked like. 

"Oh, my, no way!" the youngster laughed "But there's no loss. The bus is at every hour now, and you can find it at the bus terminal in the parking lot. There's a big poster of the convention near it. Really, easy peasy. 

He waved his hand in goodbye and disappeared. Lily turned and looked for the rest of her group. She found them sitting in a circle, watching to a square device, corded to the wall, was being green and small lights. 

"There you are" Lily called them 

"Where were you," her brother asked. 

"I found a way to get there" Lily ignored him. 

"How? The phone is still charging" Matilda pointed out. 

"We can take a special bus for it… 

"We don't have money." 

"...and it's free." 

"How do you know it?" 

"A guy told me." 

"A guy" Albus looked at her suspiciously 

"He also told me he like my cosplay and what does it come from" She explained with a smile. 

"Oh, my! That's awesome!" Matilda exclaimed "You're a genius. Do you know where the bus is? 

"At the terminal? In a parking lot? He told me so, but what's a parking lot?" Lily asked 

"There's a sign to the bus terminal there" Scorpius point at. 

"Ok, let's go!" Matilda pulled out the cable and ran following the sign. 

When they arrived at the terminal, there were only three buses. Near the convention posters, there was an empty place. Lily looked at it with despair, but Matilda shrugged her shoulders. 

"Seems we have time to think about our cosplay" she resolved. 

"What's that?" 

"It's a crossword between costume and play. People dress as their favorite characters in events like that" 

"And why would someone think that Lily is a character?" Scorpius asked 

"Must be because that someone is a creepy guy who wants something else" Albus replied, and Matilda burst to laughed. 

"Or maybe because there are lots of high school stories and some of them are about witchcraft. I spent my whole childhood watching TV shows and reading books about magic schools, so no wonder why a person took Lily for one of them if she's wearing a uniform and a broom. 

"Really?"Lily's eyes wide "I'd love to read them too." 

"I can give them to you when I'd come back from Christmas. Or I can ask my mum to send me them here." 

"Ok, stop you now" Albus made a sign to his sister. "If she starts talking about books, she'll never stop, and you should do that when we come back." 

"But we have time until the bus arrives" Lily replied. 

"I see a bus! "Scorpius shouted, "Is the one?" 

The four children looked up and saw a red metal vehicle stopped some feet in front of them. Albus turned to his cousin, but before he could say anything, doors slide open in a scraping sound. A bunch of youngsters wearing the most fantastic clothes he had ever seen jump off the bus and thanked the driver, who waver her had to them. Then, she started the engine again and got nearer. 

"To the convention, I guess?" she asked in a charming voice 

The kids nodded, and she welcomed them. Matilda led the way with the security as someone who was used to ride a bus. The Dursley used to take it at London since Moira could not stand being underground. She could tell that bus was old and scratchy, as she could see a wire to pull over and some leather hand loops dangling from the ceiling. For her friends, however, that would be how a city muggle bus looked like until they got themselves in another one heading to Saint Mung, but that is another story.

They seated on four cushions with leaking foram padding and tried to ignore the burn maks some passengers made. Matilda chose the seats nearest the windows, so they could catch a glimpse of the city as the bus did it way to the convention. As it gets closer, the space filled with an ordinary orchestra that amused Lily and Scorpius as much as it confused Albus. Teens talking in loud voices, phones ringing, streets noises coming through open windows and the distinctive sound of the motor catching or revving that went after the driver's decisions. 

They arrived at the final destination after twenty minutes, but or the wizard-born children seemed a more extended trip. They brushed up against other passengers to get away from the crowd that left the vehicle and walk over the place as if they knew where they were going. 

"Are you alright?"Matilde checked on them 

They said a quietly okay and took a moment to looked at the new place. They found themselves in a parking lot with a building at the end of it. They could read the sign from there and found that the primary purpose of it was to be a recreational center. However, that was before the convention staff arrived and transformed what was once a grassy area for soccer on a battlefield of soft combat.

They got inside the center to discover that the half-mile indoor pool was now another battlefield of naval ships that tried to keep an appearance of galactical airships. Motivational posters on the wall were replaced by advertising posters of old, geek and famous movies. Everyone was dressed in a queer way, so for the first time since they left school, the children did not feel like outcasts.

There was a corkboard with all the announcements and workshops schedules. There were lots of new names that did not ring a bell for the Potters, but Matilda seemed to understand what they were about. Finally, she clapped and smiled. 

"Ok, there is a video game section on the left wing. Come on, follow me. 

"Do you know the place?" 

"I got a map from there "she pointed at the information desk "It's a bit far from here, but then you can see more things. If you find something you want to try, just tell me. I'm sure you'll find this enjoyable" Matilda explained to her cousin. 

Lily wanted to say that she had already enjoyed herself only being there. The place was full of people cheering or clapping here and there; music came from the speakers and from dancing classes, in which door signs one could read that inside someone was teaching a j-pop, k-pop dances or martial arts. 

As they headed to the corridors, the chlorine from the pool was replaced by fragrant steam wafting up from a pot of ramen, and then, by sweat and a wave of hot electronics. It was better than what Matilda had imagined. There was not only a video arcade with the last play station, Xbox, and Nintendo games but also some retro machines similar than the eighties' ones. Glowing screens and neon lights welcomed them as they approached the coin exchange machine. 

"Do we have muggle money" Scorpius muttered 

"I don't know if we need it. Sometimes you can play once you pay at the entrance." 

"But we didn't pay anything! Nobody asked us!" Albus said 

"I know. Well, I guess we can try to play, and if someone asks, we'll tell them that we run out of money and change the game.

"I don't like that plan..." Albus doubted.

"Ok, just… do as I do"Matilda tried to seem brave and approach to two mounted gun controls somebody left as they spoke. It was an old fashion shooting game she did not recognize. When the screen asked for money, she pressed the button with frustration. A voice called her out, and she shivered.

"Sorry for that" a young man appeared in front of them "we brought them to show kids how were the olds, and most of them are breaking or going very slow. No wonder why you guys prefer the new ones.

He slide a card as if it was the key and the screen let them start the game. After that, they only had to whisper an alohomora at the machines to open the game and four two or three hours, Lily could forget about the problems of being a witch supposed to her.


	8. A Lesson

Another chapter here! I hope you like it. I'm trying to write the story in little episodes, so I write faster than before, and it doesn't discourage me. You might notice some expressions I've got from A Serie of Unfortunate Events, and if you see anything wrong with the English, please tell me. I'm still looking for a beta so any comment will be welcome.

On the other hand, I'm thankful for every follower this story has. Last time I checked there were 23. It might be not a lot, but for me was an incredible number. 23 people who want to know what happens to these kids and their stories. And I have already got the summary of every chapter so I can say that we are getting nearer to Draco Malfoy dearest secret! I'm excited, and I already know what it's going to happen!

* * *

 **A Lesson**

Meanwhile, Professor McGonagall had reunited with her headmasters to suffocate the fights that were happening at the school. Students from every house where both in the infirmary and punished. McGonagall had not seen houses' colors so mixed since the day after she announced Filch was not a caretaker anymore. After talking with her team, she could not help but notice that Lily Luna Potter was in every gossip the teachers replayed. If she would send an owl, the end of this story might be happier, but she chose a flu call, and Harry and Ginny Potter found themselves in the Headmaster office before Hogwarts domestic elves began to cook lunch.

The office had little changed as it still got the previous Headmaster's portraits holding on walls. Instead of a Fenix, there was a prominent and brown owl, with colorless feathers and tired eyes. Harry wondered if all the Headmasters' pets showed the tiredness of their owners' position.

"I do not call you to talk about your elder son, not this time; but to let you have a chat with Lily in person." She stopped, and Ginny rose her eyebrow "Well, you should talk to James too."

It seemed a good idea until they could not find the girl. She had vanished, and the panic got more significant when they realized Albus was neither at gaze.

"I swear I don't know anything" James almost shouted at his parents.

He kept the distance between himself and his parents and tried to avert their eyes. What could happen? Was it his fault? He could say something when Lily was chosen, couldn't he? Just a greeting or a what's up… But he did not. He now replayed all the situations he found himself into during the last week, and most of them were fights. He answered with punches and kicks to defend his family honor, or at least, that was what he thought he was doing. He sighed. If Teddy was still there… He was an altar boy in every aspect, but his bits of advice used to work. He tried to hold himself together, but when his eyes meet his mothers', he could not help but showed a pained expression on his face and stared at his own feet.

"Could you wait for us outside, James, please?" McGonagall asked him politely. She needed to talk with the Potter as soon as possible, but she did not want any rumors to be spread. Also, she suspected that if Albus had already disappeared, there would be another student who ran away from Hogwarts.

"I thought you knew she was here," Harry said with a strained voice.

"It's not exactly like that" Ginny replied; she understood Harry's frustration, but she was not going to feel that the guilt was only hers. "I sent an owl this very morning when we finally got ridden of the other owls, and then, we got the flue message. There was not time enough to get her answer, so I don't know whether she got it".

The three adults looked garbled at each other. Harry felt now the worry Mr., And Mrs. Weasley could feel every time he or his misadventures pushed his friends into danger. The good thing was that, with Voldemort gone, it did not seem like a deathly danger. The wrong side, however, was that after ten peaceful years, some security measure had been stopping use.

"Do you still have the magic detector for minors? "Harry asked remembering the unfair trial he had to face once.

"It's not ours, but the Ministry. And if we used it the seriousness of the issue would scale more that we want. I rather the new director of the Daily Prophet doesn't know anything about this".

Ginny and Harry looked at their former teacher, and she realized they do not know what she was talking about.

"I thought you knew..." she slippered

"I stop reading the Daily Prophet when I was still here " Ginny confessed.

"Who is…? "Harry asked but somehow his brain already knew it.

To be honest, he had never been a fan of that newspaper because on the contrary one could expect after discovering the rich culture wizard world had, they seemed really unprofessional on how to deliver the news. More than an independent newspaper, the Daily Prophet seemed to be the Daily Ministry Voice. It worked like that until recently, he realized, when the Daily Prophet journalist stopped writing about the virtues, original families had and began to address to the most naughty details of both popular and unpopular people's lives. Now that Harry thought about that, some words were even familiar…

Also, it was a Daily Prophet journalist who published the Hogwarts Selection Ceremony of this year, with every rumor and gossip, not confirmed but acclaim as reliable sources, or with expressions as "clues that made us believe...". Neither Harry nor Ginny had read the newspaper that week, but they had to fight against every reporter that had appeared in their house looking for an exclusive interview.

"She was Rita Skeeter" McGonagall sighed "Am I right if I believe you still remember her?"

Ginny gasped, and Harry closed his eyes. Of course, he remembered her and his useless and frustrating efforts to not being in her spot at all costs. Hermione had helped with that, partly because the girl was tired of having a stalker who loved to gossip about her and her private life. During a while, she was calm and then she reached the greatest reward thanks to the article she had written about Dumbledore. Now she had become the director of the most read wizard's newspaper, and Harry knew she was the leat person he wanted to be aware of his children running away.

"And how will do it? We can't wait until they come back or being caught?" He asked.

"We might wait for the owl, at least" Ginny answered. "The good thing about owls is that they find you wherever you are."

Harry opened his eyes: that was it!

"Or we could send another one and follow her. What? Is a bad idea?" He asked.

"No… it's a good one" McGonagall said. "A bit rudimentary, but it doesn't mean it won't work."

They chose two owls more since they did not want to call attention to them. In a minute, Ginny came back to Grimmauld Place and took the invisibility cloak. For a moment, she felt like the old times, when they had to save people against everyone knowledge. This time, the difference will be that McGonagall will not take points off Gryffindor since none of the kids were from that House.

The plan seemed perfect in its simplicity. However, one thing is that two owls got inside a crowded building looking for a specific person and alighted in her arms (an event that could arouse in hundreds of questions about falconry and a cosplay show contest). Another thing is that an average woman with a domestic elf at her back could ride a broom below a ceiling full of cables, bolts, and wires holding screens, posters and even colorful Chinese lanterns. When the Keeper of the Holyhead Harpers dodged every obstacle that kept the Potter siblings from their punishment and found them playing a dancing game opposite of a screen with lots of arrows here and there, big and small, in different colours, popping and disappearing, she could not help but stop her hunt and stared at them.

They were having fun.

Lily had taken her cousin's hands and was jumping on a platform that had four arrows, one in each direction. From her spot, Ginny could distinguish the upturned face of Lily; her raised cheekbones and her rapid dialogue as she talked with her brother. There he was, between Lily and the son of Draco Malfoy. Ginny had only seen Malfoy dancing once, and it was in the Christmas Ball during the Three Wizards Torn. He had been gracious and elegant, sober and meticulous in every step as if he was preparing a potion instead of dancing. His son, however, looked like he did not know what he was doing and, more important, he did not even care. He moved with fluid movements, spontaneously and relaxed. The four of them wore Hogwarts ropes, but nobody gave them stranged stares. All over the place, there were costumes of all kinds, and the kids seemed to mix with them flawlessly. She landed near them but did not take the invisibility cloak off.

"I need to stop!" Matilda claimed after raising her hand as a surrender.

"That means we win..." Albus sang

"Come on..." Lily played her poppy eyes for her

"I'm sorry, I can't… You guys are insatiable."

"You are the one who showed us this place" Scorpius reply "I bet you're now regretting it."

"That'll never happen. Even if we got punished for this" Matilda said.

"I agree with you. It's the best day since Hogwarts began." Lily confessed, and Ginny's heart jumps in her chest.

She decided it was the moment to step closer and covered her broom with her husband cloak.

"In that case, it is the moment to come back."

"Oh my!" Matilda exclaimed with wide eyes.

The children faces were red, but Ginny could not say if it were because she caught them or because they were tired. She rather not having a conversation there, so she commanded the domestic-elf to take care of Scorpius and Matilda first. It happened in a blink. Both kids were gone, and she stood alone in front of her son and daughter.

"I'm sorry."She spoke softly.

Lily wanted to answer with anger, with shouts and rage, but the time she spent jumping, playing and dancing (apart of flying from the very morning) got her exhausted. She nodded.

"It's okay" She reply although it was not okay.

"No, it's not." Ginny smiled with comprehension "But I hope you could forgive me, us, to not be as brave as you were."

She patted her head, and after a second, Lily found herself in her mother's arms, crying like a baby. Albus, in front of them, looked at her.

"Are you not mad?" He asked.

"Should I?"His mother asked as an answer.

"I don't know. We run away… but we just… wanted to help."

"Have you learned something from this? I assure you I have."

Albus took a moment to respond to that. Now that he stopped moving, he could notice that his breaths were slow and calm as if everything was just as it should be. For a day, he did not want to be in any other place; he did neither think about past or future issues; he just enjoyed the day with his sister, his best friend, and his cousin. He enjoyed a day full of games where it did not matter if you were a muggle born who had been defeated by an old wizard family descendant at a muggle game because they were friends and friendship was over blood and status. Whether he learned it that day or he already knew it, Albus did not know.

"I think I've done it..." He answered.

Lily stepped back, dried up her tears and looked at her mom. There was still something important to discuss.

"Are you not going to punish us?"

"No, I don't think so. We had to come back to school flying, however, and tomorrow you two will go to class even if you are tired because of this." She explained to them without a smile.

"Why?" Lily asked and checked herself as quickly as she could "Not the class part."

"Because you were at school when you did it and I think McGonagall has already thought of a punishment for you all. I think one punishment is enough for today" Ginny explained.

"And what about Scorpius and Matilda? "Albus inquired

"I don't know, honey," Ginny said while she and the kids left the recreation center and got nearer the little forest that was behind it. "McGonagall has to call Mr. Malfoy and Mr. Dursley to talk with them."

With a kick, she jumped on her broom and went high in the sky. Albus and Lily followed her, as they always did in her pieces of training. They knew how to keep their mother's track in the middle of the night, even when the only light they had were the stars or the moonlight. The only clouds were in Albus mind. He was right and convinced about what he learned: that friendship was over blood or status, but he did not know what Matilda and Scorpius could think about that, not when none of them shared the other type of blood. At least, that he knew.


	9. The Letters No One Wanted to Receive

Finally, I finish this chapter. It could not be possible without the help of the one stop for writers webpage, and if you like to write, I recommend it. Meanwhile, I was writing some little stories in Spanish and checking some Harry Potter data on the books. I hope you like the chapter since everything is leading to a moment I love about this story. (Do I tell you that I planned everything already? It's going to be very funny, I assure you.)

* * *

 **The Letters No One Wanted To Receive**

The Sunday afternoon in which McGonagall sent an elf to contact with the Dursleys happened to be at the old house in Privet Drive where the boy who lived had live during his first years. The living room had hardly changed from when Harry tried to catch its first Hogwarts letter. Walls and furniture in flowers motifs decorated the place, and over the chimney, there was a mantle lined with pictures frames of a younger Dudley, Matilda, and Moira. Some electronic devices rested at the left of television, and under the window, some potted plants enjoy Petunia's spare time. She and Vernon were still a married couple whose only desires were to make their grandchildren happy. However, a big cloud had come to the Dursley's sky some years ago, and it changed Petunia with no point to return. Around the time Matilda began to do weird things nobody could explain to her, her grandmother started to forget her past. To her husband and son, there could be no difference since she always pretended she was an only child with her parents dead and no relatives from them. However, sometimes, her memory jumped her years with them and let her open her heart to her childhood, before she and Lily met Severus Snape; or when her sister and her boyfriend had to come to have dinner at Evan's dining room. Thanks to that splits, Matilda and Moira had known the story of the two siblings who dreamed of going to Hogwarts and were separate y it. It was because of these stories that they promised themselves that it would not happen to them.

However, these events did not make Vernon capable of dealing with magic better than before, and in fact, he accused all the problems the Potter boy had caused when he lived with them as the main reason of the disease. When he heard something about magic that seemed severe or dangerous, he lost his temper and gritted his teeth. On the other side, when some childish magic appeared in front of his family, he looked at his wife and melted a bit, as he realized she was coming back to happy childhood memories. Memories she never shared with him or Duddley, memories she tried to forget when she reneged of her sister; memories only she and Lily knew and would die forever when Petunia left this world.

The Sunday afternoon McGonagall sent two domestic elves from Hogwarts, one got his way to Privet Drive while the other jump into the ancient mansion of Malfoy Manor. The picture that the once proud of their pure bloodline family made was entirely different comparing to the Dursley's. An odor of stale cigarettes got mixed with the scented candles that rested on some end tables that were about the place. Near the French lang window, where one could see thick velvet drapes covering it, three gentlemen were wearing dark green ropes and frock coats that maintained the glamour of the beginnings of the last Century. Their conversation seemed polite and cold as if there was an issue not solved yet. A few steps from them, a baby grand piano kept silence while four ladies were chatting with each other sitting on overstuffed chairs and coaches decorated with green and silver touches.

These two families, who did not know each other at the time and if they did, they would have hated each other with ferocity, were the ones McGonagall sent a message about what their children had done together. The letter was the same in both cases since the Principal wanted to send Matilda and Scorpius right to their beds as soon as possible.

 _"Dear Mr. and Mrs. Dursley (or Malfoy in Scorpius' case),  
we notify you that your daughter, Matilda Dursley, has left the school today without permission to attend a muggle event with some of her classmates. Since this behavior is forbidden, the school will apply a consequent punishment for this disturbance.  
We also want to inform you that if this happened again, the School Board would have to consider the permanence of your daughter in our institution.  
Sincerely,  
Minerva McGonagall,  
The principal of Hogwarts."_

As every parent who receives this kind of letter, the reaction was similar in both cases. First, they made a disapproval gesture and remembered how naughty their kids could be and then, they wondered why they decide to run away for a school they claimed to love. But, while Vernon Dursley thought that her grandaughter adventure was a sign of good mental health ("look at her, I knew she would miss our marvelous world"), Lucius Malfoy almost skipped a heart bump when he heard the "muggle" word.

"What is wrong with that kid?!"

He got rage and hit the candelabra nearest him. Draco Malfoy, his son, looked at him with their teeth clenched and tried to stay calm. His father shifted in a grumpy mood and started yelling everyone at the living room.

"It wasn't enough with Druella, was it?" He looked at the group of ladies, where his wife, Narcissa Malfoy, looked startled.

The other three women were once known as Greengrass before the daughters of Mrs. Greengrass became Mrs. Daphne Nott and Mrs. Astoria Malfoy. It was not the first time Lucius Malfoy accused her daughter-in-law of being the culprit of the squibness of her grandchild, but that year had been especially harder since Druella could get her ticket to Hogwarts if she would be born as a magic kid. The old man pulled his blond hair, put a hand over Draco's shoulder as he made intense eye contact with his son.

"Sometimes, it's better leaving this world with a decent heir than still be alive and bring shame to your line."

Draco wide his eyes and got frozen. At the other side of the room, Astoria stumbled and felt that she got deaf. She had to hear badly; she had to. Two arms covered her, and she hardly recognized her mother as they left the living room. Daphne closed the door behind them, although Narcissa's reprehensive tone was still loud from where the once Greengrass waited.

"How do you dare?" Draco snapped his father.

He was sweating and bitting his nails against his palms to content himself. From his position, he could hear his mother breathing noisily as she got blinded of embarrassment. Her mind was divided between the urge of checking her guests and lie them that this would not happen again and the disgrace of being seen yelling to her husband in public.

"How do I? Everyone thinks the same" Lucius replied, "Even you and your wife had thought about it, hadn't you?"

Draco paled. He could not deny that he sometimes think about that, but they were shameful ideas, and he tried to ignore the little voice that called him a fraud. He opened his mouth to answer his father but Mr. Nott, who had been standing near them and had not said a word in all night, cut in.

"It is time to leave" He pulled his best friend to the exit, but Draco did not want to move. "It is not the place nor the time."

Theodore Nott, Draco's best friend from their Hogwarts time, was the shrewdest person Draco had ever known. A long time ago, the only Malfoy child wanted to be like him, but he was too passionate and impatient to think twice before do or say anything. It did not matter. With time, they become a great duo: Theodore was the mind of their alliance while Draco was the heart. With his nostrils still flaring, Draco managed to follow Theodore instructions and left the room. They chose a small door that was at the library side, far from the baby piano and the door their spouses went. It was their exit, the one they used when they were younger and did not want to socialize with their parents' friends' children. It led to a small salon, with a carefully chosen library and was protected by the Fidelio enchantment. It was their place from a long time ago when Theodore's mother was still alive, and this was her special gift. She and Narcissa Malfoy were the first guardians of that little place, that was a secret even for their husbands. Neither Mr. Nott nor Mr. Malfoy had ever realized where his sons hid, but they were not the only deceived. During the second Voldemort War, that was the only place Draco Malfoy could sleep without the fear of getting killed by one of Voldemort's or Bellatrix's henchmen.

"It's okay. I'm okay" Draco said when they got to the room.

"No, you are not" Theodore reply laconically.

"It's just... I don't know what to do" He complained and started pacing in short spans. "He makes me feel like the old times, that I was useless and a fraud. That I'm guilty of the not awesome anymore Malfoy surname."

"And are you?" Theodore asked.

Draco looked at him, crossed his arms in a closed body posture and replied with all sarcasm he managed to reunite.

"Of course I am. How in the hell could I be not since I was a bodger in the most elite group of pureblood crazy wizards? The moron and the retarded kid that let the glorious Potter took advantage of me and stole me the Elder Wand so he could defeat the most hypocrite half-caste wizard of our times". He stopped to breathe again and plopped into the sofa in a slumping posture

"By Melin! I would hate the History of XX Magic Century if I had to study it."  
Theodore Nott draw an almost invisible smile with his lips.

"You can ask Scorpius about that, I guess. But knowing him, I bet he will find it very amusing."

"Do you think?" Draco sited up straight.

"He seems a clever boy..."

"He's in Ravenclaw. Of course, he's clever" Draco snorted.

"Oh, I meant in a heartful way," Theodore added.

"Which way is that?" Draco asked, but he had already known.

It was his way, the way he was with his trustworthy friends and his mother, the way he could never be with his father. The way he fought against when he dated Pansy Parkinson and the way he allowed himself to follow when he started to date Astoria Greengrass. The way he should learn to improve to protect his children against all the vicious rumors they could face.

A slight moan and shaky laughter escaped his lips. He could see the solution formed as he drummed his feet against the floor. He stood up and bounced on this tiptoe for a minute until he could conceal his excitement. With peace, he invited Theodore to look for their wives near the beautiful garden pond where their wedding ceremonies took place. It was a lovely hideout that Narcissa Malfoy let Astoria have for herself. Draco was walking with wide steps and his hands out of the frock coat's pockets, but as soon as he saw the pride wound of Astoria's face, a bunch of doubts found their way to him. He stopped abruptly and looked back to the facade of Malfoy Manor. He felt a bony hand over his shoulder:

"If I had the chance I would not mind having a squib sister in exchange of having my mother with me."

"Was it the same... illness?" He asked

"I think so" Theodore sighed "But my father was not as brave as you."

"Brave? Do you dare to call me brave?"

"Ok, ambitious. He was not as ambitious as you. Happy, little snake?"

"I think so," Draco said.

"Are you going to tell me what is in your mind?"

"No, not yet. It's going to be a surprise, even for her" Draco pointed at Astoria.

"I do not know if I like this" Theodore replied.

"Oh, it's okay if you don't like it. You can always associate with my father: he's definitely going to hate this".


	10. What Killed Draco Malfoy? Part I

I know I owe you an apology and I'm sorry for stop writing this. I wanted to write some of my original stories and try to send them to contest, and I left this. I don't think it was a mistake, but it would be more helpful if I organized myself better so I could do both things. Moreover, when I already know what is going to happen here.

But I didn't and, worse; I push myself harder because of every failure until writing stops being fun. And now I come back here because reading the previous chapters made me laugh and I can't try to be perfect when I write in English. It's hard enough to write it in English. I only focus on making the story readable and engage.

I hope you enjoy this chapter. I surely did.

By the way, if you see this story in AO3 in account called Shiorita, it's me!

* * *

 **What Killed Draco Malfoy? Part I**

It was not dawn yet when Draco Malfoy arrived at the Ministry. The building was almost empty since there was still an hour for workers to arrive. However, he knew that the office he was aiming had people in there.

Hermione Granger was his classmate during his years in Hogwarts. She was the one who arrives hurtfully early and gets every answer right. If it was not because of her, he could be the student of his year. But that was not the worst part. If only she were not a muggle-born, he could admire her. If she were a Slytherin, he could like her, be with her even, and if she were not a Potter friend, he could respect her and ignore her. But no. She was everything he likes in a woman with the worst scenario possible. When he thought about her, his mind was full of "what if" that did not help him.

After the war, the trial and Scropious born, he stopped thinking about her but right now as he paced to her office, the doubts came back. What if she refuses to help him?

He did not tell his idea to anyone, not sure what he even thinks about it. It seemed a terrible idea, but the only one he could bring about. If someone discovered him, the Malfoy surname was probably doomed. It would be even worse than if he would marry.

"Granger."

He found her at her office, although it would be generous to call it that. She sat at a cubicle which brown wall dividers separate her for the rest of her team. In one of the walls, a hold calendar called out every new task she had managed to do. Two framed photos and a dish full of candies were the only companions she had apart from a pile of folders and manuals that covered the desk.

At that moment, she was slurping her coffee. She rose her head and frowned.

"Malfoy."

"Is it not too early to come to work?"

Maybe, if she did not use that aggressive tone she used to use back at school, he could help it and not trying to tease her.

"Early bird gets the worm," she replied.

Draco dried the sweat of his palms on the robe and focused the gaze on the edge of Hermione's desk. There was a chair opposite her, but he did not want to take a sit. He wanted this to be as fast as possible. If only she could be more cooperative.

"What do you want?"

His relief did not make a sound, but he felt his knees buckling.

"You are designing a muggle surviving program for wizards."

Hermione moved back and stood up in a defensive move. The coffee spilled over her files, but she did not look at them. She was only worried about Draco.

"How... no. What do you... Of course, you do," she shacked her head and crossed her arms over her chest."You are here to make me stop."

She did no ask, but Draco was almost near to answer her. No, of course, he did not come here to stop her. That would be stupid and useless. There were better ways to do it, faster even than to go to Granger office and ask or mock her. Actually, that was the first time he agreed with one of the girl's projects. He still remembered some of weirdest idea she had. For when she tried to stop the hippogriff death after the animal attacked him in a class, or when she funded the s.p.e .w platform to free elves or the Dumbledore Army, what was obvious it could not be a Potter idea. She got right in every of her project. If only they were useful...

"It is a prototype project, isn't it?"

"Yes, she looked down and saw the coffee lumps. And I need time to develop it, so if you don't mind".

"You need volunteers to check it, don't you?"

Hermione turned to him with her hand on her wand. She cleaned up the mess and looked to Malfoy, shrinking her ideas. Draco could hear her thoughts (what does he really want?) Pushing her disbelief. Because she already understood why he was there.

"Why?"

"It is a secret."

"No. I'm not going to let you spoil this."

"You should"

"Why?"

"Because you want this to be a success. And by that, you need to test the program against the pureblood elite".

"We might do it with ordinary people."

"In that case, you are wasting your time and everybody money. You may win the war, but you'll lose all your battles if you don't remember how this world works."

"Like a medieval one."

Draco rose his eyebrows. That seemed an internal joke he did not know but could follow without a problem.

"It's more like an oligarchy."

Hermione opened her mouth, but after a second, she closed it up again. He was right, and she knew it. With satisfaction, he saw how the idea got into her slowly but definitely.

"What do you want in exchange?" she had taken one of the folders and were looking for some papers.

"Fame? Recognition? Money?"

Money? When did the Malfoy need money? Draco closed his fists at the insult. How did she dare to...? If she were not Granger...

"None of those." Draco looked at her as fiercely and cold as he could, but Hermione did not look away. Damn, that woman!

"I want secrecy. Nobody has to know."

She let the folder fell over her legs and opened her jaw. It as a surprise for her, indeed. She might accept what Potter had said in Malfoy's trial, but Draco knew, for Hermione, he would always be the one who called her mudblodd the same year Voldemort attempted to murder some of her kind. After all the years, he did not know if he regretted his words or not. If only she would not have said anything about not being good enough. It was not like he bribed the team. He was good at Quidditch, and she could not even call a broom properly.

"You will need a mentor."

Her words brought him to the present and made him forget the anger of the past. She stood up and was showing a paper where he has to sign in.

"A muggle one?" He tried to hide his horror, but that was difficult."You are a muggle-born wizard. You'll know how to do it."

"I'm not going to" she tried to take the file back, but Draco was faster. He wrote Hermione Granger in the blank for mentors and signed before returning it.

"You can't change it, or I will do something to stop the project."

Hermione looked at him, and Draco forced himself to smile. It was weird and outrageous at the same time, but he did not mind. He knew she could talk to Potter and even Weasley (if she did not marry a Weasley), but it did not matter. Not now, not ever.

He was going to do it, even if his parents, his friends, and his old enemies mocked at him. It did not matter. The only one who did was her, her little girl, her dearest daughter, Druella Malfoy.


	11. What Killed Draco Malfoy? Part II

OMG! I spent nearly two months writing this, and it isn't finished yet (That's why this chapter has three parts). These days I indeed have little time, but I didn't expect to go so slowly. Some people recommend me to write it in Spanish before since it's easier and I might go faster if I only have to translate than thinking everything in English. I'm thinking about it, but meanwhile, here's the next chapter.  
I hope you like it.

* * *

 **What Killed Draco Malfoy? Part II**

Argentea Manor, the house of Draco and Astoria Malfoy, woke up with a fresh, moist scent. There were beads of water on the wide steps from the front door to the driveaways, and the thick white columns appeared frosted. It was a beautiful autumn morning, but Mr. Malfoy was unable to appreciate it.

He was fidgety since he visited Mrs. Weasley in her ministry office. From dawn to dusk, he grew obsessed with the fear of being discovered. He did not talk to his wife but with monosyllables, worried that anything he says betrayed him. After two days of silence, Astoria left the house to stay with her mother for a while.

He scanned the sky, expecting an owl and a large packet he did not know if he wanted to open. The animal was supposed to arrive last night, but the first lights were already there, and he could not see anything. Should he go to the ministry to get everything by himself?

Some wingbeats strummed the air, and he saw a small brown owl flew to him. He reached out his arm and let the owl alighted on it. Draco took the letter and opened it: it was a piece of advice. The big package would arrive soon, and the owls would need a balcony to land on. They asked him to prepare the arrival.

Cursing, he saw off the animal with an abrupt movement and turned back to his house. Draco called his domestic elf and told him instructions.

"Open the balcony of my studio and prepared some water for the owls that are coming. Bring me the letter they bring and call me when you clean the mess. Then, go to Greengrass manor and tell Astoria I need to be alone two more days. Now, I will have my breakfast".

The elf nodded and disappeared with a snap. Draco went to the backyard and sat in his favorite chair to admire his garden and try to relax. There was a healthy gleam to natural foliage in front of him, gifting him a peaceful frame of mind. On the grass, he could see some fox tracks making a clear path through the field. If his children were still at home, he would call them.

The family used to gather in the garden to have breakfast together while the weather was still warm. After that, the kids used to take some classes on music and etiquette. They also begin some stuff from Hogwarts. Scorpius had been a Potions and Quidditch fan since very little, and Druella had already read all his books about Arimancia, Runes, and Astronomy. It was a surprise when they realize she could not do magic nor see some magical creatures neither.

The last year, with Scorpius at Ravenclaw, was a nightmare. Mr. Malfoy Father came to their house, convinced that he could open the magic box Druella, as every kid had. Draco still remembered how humiliating and fun was when he found out that Longbottom's grandfather threw him from a balcony to open Neville's. Of course, he did not allow his father to do the same, and he had to forbid Lucius to visit them when he was not at home.

At the same time, the Greengrass sisters had left the country and looked for the healer that attend Astoria in Druella's labor. When they came back, they only brought a letter with a name and an invitation to an unknown school. Who were they and what did they teach? Was it for squibs or muggles? Could Druella be happy there?

Once back in his studio, Draco looked at all the objects the owls left. There was a collection of square forms, some bigger than others. There was a small hard plastic and a black one with different small lights that bright in yellow. It had a tag where he could read "router," although he did not know what entrance it led on. The heaviest one was called "printer" and had a place to put some scrolls. However, the weirdest was a sheet with three buttons and two holes. Draco put everything over his desk and took the small books that came within.

The course that Hermione had designed had three phases. The first one was based on the subject of Muggles Studies, and it had some tests about it.

Although if someone said it, Draco would deny it, he felt curious. He was a fast reader, so even when he thought some stuff was impossible or plain stupid, he finished the book fast to begin with playing with the devices.

The book was illustrated and show the muggle fashion and how it had changed for the last century. He recognized some clothes he saw during the Ireland-Bulgary Final Quidditch Championship. There was another chapter about the History of Technology, that seemed to govern the muggle world. Another one went about the primary resources to heal themselves and some stuff for stationary and money.

"Why would I need to know all of that?" Draco asked himself.

The book had a test attached, so Draco did it and sent it by an owl. Then, he took the second book and read the first page:

"When you answer the test, please do not post it by an owl. You shall send it by a muggle method. Otherwise, it will not count.  
You shall send it with your phone. Keep reading to know how to proceed."

"What is that?" He asked angrily.

"First, connected your mobile phone with one of the batteries."

Draco looked around himself and saw some bricks with cables that fit in one of the sheet's hole. A picture popped on the screen.

"Hello, Draco Malfoy. I am your mobile phone," the lamina shouted to him.

Draco jumped on his seat and dropped the device. It was like a howler but without a mouth full of teeth.

"Fron now on, I'm going to be your teacher and your friend."

"No way" he muttered

"You can call me Charity, as in honor of Charity Burbage."

A chill went down through his spine as he remembered the woman. It was the first murder he saw in his father's mansion and the beginning of the worst year of his life. A year he thought he should not survive, but, at the contrary of the Hogwarts teacher, he did.

"Please, say my name aloud so I could record your voice."

"Hey," Draco looked at the phone and frowned.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't hear your"

He waited, but the phone went silent. After a moment, he moved his eyes right to left before he took the phone with his hand and moved it closer.

"Hello, Char"

"One moment, can you repeat it? "

"Hello," he lengthened the l sound "Charity."

"I almost got it. Just one more."

"Hello, Charity," he said aggressively.

"Fantastic. Now I can recognize your voice, and you can ask me whatever you want."

"Oh, you're an elf!"

"I respect your opinion."

"And I thought muggles were stupid," He grinned.

"I don't find locations with these features."

He looked puzzled, but the phone-elf kept talking.

"I'm going to show you a tour. At the end of the lesson, you shall do every task, like the most competitive muggle."

"I don't think that exists."

"First, you need an email account."

"What's that?"

"I don't understand you."

"What is an email account?"

"I don't find any email account for you. Do you want to make one?"

"Okay," He sighed.

"Fabulous! Do you want a Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo, or another one account?

"Ehh"

"I'm sorry, I don't..."

"The first one."

"Tell me a name you want to see at the address. Everyone could see it."

He doubted. He could not say Draco Malfoy or Argentea Manor, but it had to be something recognizable. The previous book stablished that every muggle had at least once, so if he got his account, he could use it to talk with Druella. What should he use? Maybe, some allegory for Hogwarts.

"The Silver Snake," He said.

"One moment," Charity replied "I'm sorry, but his one already existed. You can think of another one or choose among thesilversnake580, thesilversnake568, or thesilversnake98."

Draco felt displeased for what he had thought it was a smart answer, but it seemed some muggles thought that earlier. He chose the 580 option since, at least, it has his birth date.

"Perfect. Your email account is thesilversnake580 . Now, we need to secure it. Think about your password and write it down".

After the artificial elf finished to talk, a qwerty keyboard popped on the screen. Draco looked at it and passed his hand through his hair. The letters were organized in random positions with the "a" near "s" and "j" with the "k." He put his index finger on the screen, and a letter appeared on the keyboard. A second later, the letter transformed into a dot.

"Wait! I don't know what I put."

"I'm sorry. This password is to short. It should have at least six characters".

"Oh, good."

He pressed the keys of the only word that came to his mind:

"And finally, the secret question. Think about something you only know."

He closed his eyes. The process was being burdener than he thought, and he was losing his faith in it. He did not want to admit, but he was looking forward to taking photos -something he knew already - and to send it by that phone-thing. However, until now, he only got to talk with an invisible, restless, and useless domestic elf.

He sank on his chair with the phone at his hand. At the opposite of him, Cooky, his real domestic elf opened the door. The servant looked at his master, who was reading the question the phone proposed him.

"What is your single mom surname?

"Narcissa Black" Cooky answered

"So you also know it," Draco said and turned his attention to the next question.

"She is here," Cooky added.

"What? "Draco asked inattentively

"Narcissa Black or Narcissa Malfoy. Your mother, sir, is here. She is in the living room waiting for you".


End file.
